Adaptive diversity and diversification

Main applications:

• To what extent is the diversity observed at all levels of biological organisation (e.g. individual differences in personality, species diversity) caused by adaptive processes?
• What are the implications of diversity for the functioning and adaptive potential of a biological system?

Key processes studied:

Diversifying selection, frequency-dependent selection, temporal and spatial variation, dispersal and migration, genetic drift, gene flow, speciation, adaptive radiation, competition, facilitation, mutualism, predation, ecosystem engineering.