Our current research program aims to unveil how mangrove trees and organisms cope with contrasting environments. We are using genotype-by-sequencing, transcriptomics, ecophysiology, GIS tools, and biophysical oceanographic simulations to reveal how mangrove trees may respond to current climate changes by migration and persistence using two approaches. One tests whether independent mangrove recolonization events of abandoned aquaculture/salt production ponds lead to parallel evolution at morphophysiological traits and molecular levels. The other aims to unveil the neutral, adaptive and plastic responses of mangrove trees in the Equatorial coast of Brazil, from the arid environments to the Amazon River mouth.
Recently, our group also started using environmental DNA (eDNA) to unveil how the inhabitants of waters and sediments of mangrove habitats may also respond to different environments.
Relevant recent publications:
- Vanin et al., 2024, https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.14426
- Madeira et al., 2023, https://doi.org/10.1111/1755-0998.13807
- Mori et al., 2021, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2020.106948
- Silva et al., 2021, https://doi.org/10.1093/biolinnean/blaa199
- Cruz et al., 2020, https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.15330
- Cruz et al., 2019, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-56469-w

Biogeography
Biology of Organisms
Conservation Biology
Ecology
Ecophysiology
Evolutionary Biology
Genetics and heredity (excluding Medical Genetics)
Genomics
Marine Biology
Phylogeography
Population Biology
Population Genetics

I would be happy to collaborate with projects whose goals include coastal/marine species connectivity, coastal/marine biodiversity conservation/management/monitoring, marine protected areas management, environmental DNA (eDNA)-based monitoring.

mangroves, coastal and marine science, conservation genetics and genomics, conservation biology, environmental dna (edna), molecular ecology

-