Pois é :) Aqui está o meu tema de trabalho deste e do próximo ano :) Por enquanto a coisa mais definida que existe sobre a minha tese (e claro... não fui eu que escrevi xD). Embora nem tudo faça grande sentido para mim (não consigo ver o estreito de Gibraltar como grande barreira biogeográfica), mas vamos lá ver que história tem o DNA para me contar.
"A comparison of hemosporidian parasite and their avian host communities across the strait of Gibraltar"
Global climate change is affecting all ecosystems of the Earth and is expected to have an even greater future impact due to its accelerating pace. One of the major anticipated consequences of the global climate change on biodiversity is disruption of ecologic communities. Although most members of temperate communities are expected to react to the global climate change by shifting their ranges polewards or upslope in the mountains, species differ in their tolerance to the change, dispersal abilities, and other life history traits. These differences result in a reshuffling of ecological communities and in changes of species' realized niches which are determined by interactions with other community members. The complexity of interactions within and among species can lead to unexpected responses to the global climate change. Of particular concern is the potential for pathogens to shift their distributions, hosts, and to increase in virulence as a consequence of the global climate change. This concern is rooted in the exposure of immunologically naive potential hosts to novel pathogens as a consequence of the changes in the composition of ecological communities. There is a diverse list of studies demonstrating the devastating effects of invasive or emerging pathogens on animal and plant populations, many of which are endemic. The global climate change is expected to especially favor the pathogens employing arthropod vectors for transmission. It could allow pathogen vectors to expand both geographically and demographically, and increase the length of the annual period during which pathogens are infecting the hosts. Unfortunatelly, our knowledge of Arthropod transmitted pathogens is still very limited, especially in many endemic areas. In the proposed study we will compare diversity, prevalence, and virulence of the avian hemosporidian parasites and their hosts in two endemic forest communities of Iberia and North Africa. We will pay a special attention in ability of both, birds and their pathogens to cross the biogeographic barrier imposed by the strait of Gibraltar.
O melhor disto tudo vão ser as duas semaninhas em África :D (--> another dream come true ^^)
Can't wait :D
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