María José Carmona
Professor
of
Evolutionary Ecology
ICBiBE Research Lab:
e3 (Evolutionary Ecology)
About
I am a senior researcher performing studies in evolutionary ecology of zooplankton with a special focus on rotifers. A common thread in my research is my interest in the ecological and evolutionary consequences of sex in these facultative sexual organisms, and the combination of multiple theoretical and empirical approaches. I have contributed to: understanding the mechanisms controlling sexual reproduction in the life cycle; extending sex ratio evolution Fisher’s theory to rotifers; evaluating the costs of sex investment; explaining the maintenance of sex in populations; understanding the relevance of sex investment in coexistence of cryptic species; and analyzing plasticity, genetic polymorphism, and risk spreading strategies in traits related to sexual reproduction and diapause.I am currently interested in identifying how these responses contribute to the ability of populations to adapt and evolve in unpredictable environments.
Selected publications
2009 - Carmona, M.J., N. Dimas-Flores, E.M. García-Roger, M. Serra (2009). Selection of low investment in sex in a cyclically parthenogenetic rotifer. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 22: 1975-1983.
2011 - Campillo, S., E.M. García-Roger, M.J. Carmona, M. Serra (2011). Local adaptation in rotifer populations. Evolutionary Ecology 25: 933-974
2017 - Tarazona, E., García‐Roger, E. M., & Carmona, M. J. (2017). Experimental evolution of bet hedging in rotifer diapause traits as a response to environmental unpredictability. Oikos. 126: 1162-1172.
2017 - Franch-Gras, L., E.M. García-Roger, M. Serra & M.J. Carmona (2017). Adaptation in response to environmental unpredictability. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B-Biological Sciences, 284: 20170427. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2017.0427.
2019 - Tarazona, E., C. Hahn; L. Franch-Gras, E.M. García-Roger, M.J. Carmona &A. Gómez (2019). Ecological genomics of adaptation to unpredictability in experimental rotifer populations. Scientific Reports, 9(1): 19646. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-56100-y
