Biogeography is present in humans’ life since the beginning of civilizations, when recognizing the best areas to find food was crucial to survival. Today, biogeography is a multidisciplinary science and has as main goal the understanding of the spatial and timing distribution of organisms. My research project involves the phylogenetic and biogeographical study of a genus of Ulidiidae (Plagiocephalus) widely distributed in the Neotropical region. The evolution of this group and all other that live on Earth can only be understood by means of systematics phylogenetic and biogeography, which is why this field of science so important.

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                                                                 Ana Caroline O. Vasconcelos, MSc student, March 2017

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The main impact of my study is the systematic of a little-known group of flies. Psychodidae is a widely known family according to medical relevance, where some species can be vectors of Leishmania. However, my studies are on species that do not have any blood-sucking habits, but they are extremely abundant. During my master's degree 50 new species of Trichomyia were discovered. In this context, the work with little-known groups collaborates with the increase of knowledge and encourages other works. The next research steps aimed knowledge of phylogenetic relationship of Trichomyia,, a work that never been carried out.

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  Maíra Xavier Araújo, Phd candidate, July 2017

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Curiosity is the most important thing for researchers but even more for young people, who are beginning to work with biological sciences and understanding the evolution of life on earth. I work with systematics and biogeography of the Fanniidae (Diptera), a taxon with medical and forensic interest. The study of those topics increases the knowledge on the relationship between the species and their evolutionary history. I expected that the evolutionary process traced on this group, instigate the curiosity about the history of close related groups in the Neotropical region, my study area. The impact of my work, I hope, will go beyond the journal impact factor.

Diana Grisales, posdoc, September 2015

 

Muscidae (Diptera) has been used as model taxon for biogeographical and ecological studies. The understanding of the diversity and evolution of this group, on both phylogenetic and biogeographic fields is the main focus of my research. The description of new species from the Neotropical region, which is vastly diverse and includes endangered biomes, is crucial to emphasize the importance of the conservation of those areas. Though describing the diversity is a crucial step, my research aims to bring historical information to these species. With a growing number of phylogenetic and divergence time hypothesis for the entire family and its lower taxonomic ranks, more complex questions can be answered within those and other fields of knowledge.

Kirstern Lica F. Haseyama, posdoc, September 2015

 

The knowledge about biodiversity is one of the bases to other biological studies. This is even more important in the Neotropical region, an area with high diversity but understudied. This is the case for nearly all taxa, but even more for the entomological fauna. We live in a time when the degradation and fragmentation of environment caused by humanity are in drastic levels. Therefore, this kind of study becomes more important to understand and preserve our biological heritage. My research focusses on the Juan Fernandez Archipelago (Chile) and the Andean region (Peru), which are examples of areas with high endemism that suffered degradation and loss of diversity unknown to the science.

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Lucas Roberto Pereira Gomes, undergraduate student, September, 2015

 

I hope to contribute to the qualitative and quantitative characterization of the interaction between species, and to establish their determinants, especially in the Brazilian Amazon biome. The interactions between species have shaped the evolutionary history of biodiversity. They also structured populations and communities, which in turn define ecosystems. The study of interspecific interactions is the best option for a satisfactory understanding of regulatory processes and structure of the communities, and therefore for their conservation. Studies involving the interaction between Drosophilidae (Diptera) and macroscopic fungi seek to understand how these interactions are established and maintained. This is a new and challenging frontier for ecological studies of these groups, considering that our knowledge is still incipient.

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Rosângela Santa Brígida Costa, PhD candidate, September 2015

 

The big challenge for the conservation of biodiversity is to know the species, how they relate to each other and interact in diverse ecosystems, whether they are economically important or not. The revision of the genus Micropotamia (Diptera: Muscidae), and the proposition of hypothesis for its phylogenetic and biogeographic evolution will help us to understand the history of this taxon and how it relates with the evolution of the areas in which they occur. This study will contribute to the knowledge of the Muscidae family. Most importantly, it will enhance our understanding of the Neotropical biodiversity; after all, there is no way to save the unknown.

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Stela Costa Jorge, MSc student, September, 2015

 

Since 2011, when I first joined the Program of Entomology at the UFPR to develop my master's degree, I have worked on taxonomy of Neriidae (a family of acalyptrate flies), seeking to describe the unknown fauna and solve systematic problems. It is a fact known to all that we remain unaware of the total number of species that comprise the biodiversity, and that many species will become extinct before they are described. My PhD research as a whole seeks to provide information that will help improving the knowledge not only of our species biodiversity, but their relationships, biology, evolutionary trends, etc., seeking to improve the practice of conservation science, and helping to answer fundamental questions such as “What to protect?”.

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Tatiana Alejandra Sepúlveda, PhD candidate, September 2015

 

With the intense and rapid loss of the biodiversity, it is essential to know what to preserve. I work with systematics and taxonomy, and these fields of science contribute directly to the knowledge of the biodiversity. I hope to describe new species of the genus Limnophora (Diptera: Muscidae) in the Neotropical Region. I also aim to understand the controversial relationships between this and other genera belonging to the Limnophorini. With the knowledge generated by this project, it will be possible to perform other studies that encourage the conservation of these species, the areas they occupy and consequently biodiversity as a whole.

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João Fogaça, PhD candidate, September 2015

 

Why are there so many species? Why species occur in some places and not in others? Furthermore, why species have different ecological roles in the environment? The knowledge needed to answer these questions are in studies of taxonomy, evolution and biogeography. Through the study in these fields we can understand how to use biodiversity to promote public health and conservation. It is not possible to preserve or apply knowledge about what is not known. In this sense, the impact of my work is to understand the evolution in time and space of a fly subfamily (Cyrtoneurininae, Muscidae, Diptera), producing basic knowledge necessary for any scientific application.

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Ândrio Zafalon-Silva , PhD candidate, May 2015