I'm an evolutionary biologist interested in the origins of biodiversity in a geographical context - particularly on islands. I also study the effects of anthropogenic extinctions on isolated ecosystems. I use modelling, phylogenetic and genomic approaches to reconstruct diversification dynamics over evolutionary time scales. I work on a variety of organisms (plants and animals) from islands and continental biodiversity hotspots.
Keywords
Evolution, island biology, phylogenetics, birds, plants, biodiversity hotspots
Researchinterests
Islands are natural laboratories for the study of biodiversity, and understanding how communities assemble on islands is a test-bed for how they accumulate on larger landmasses.
Island are the setting of nature’s most spectacular adaptive radiations and are at the frontline of today’s biodiversity crisis. I develop models that can be applied to phylogenetic data from both extinct and extant species, allowing us to reconstruct and predict the pattern of accumulation of species on islands.
Currenttopics
A selection of the topics I am working on currently. More info: www.luis-valente.com
Human-caused extinctions on islands
Evolution and biogeography of island birds
Island biogeography of Asteraceae
In themedia
The Guardian, News article
BBC, News article
ABC US, News article
Trouw, News article
Scientific American, Podcast
Süddeutsche Zeitung, News article
Nature, Flower power
Science, News article
National Geographic, News article
Keypublications
Roeble L, van Benthem KJ, Weigelt P, Kreft H, Knope ML, Mandel JR, Vargas P, Etienne RS, Valente L. Island biogeography of the megadiverse plant family Asteraceae (2024) Nature Communications.
Michielsen NM, Goodman SM, Soarimalala V, van der Geer A, Dávalos LM, Saville GI, Upham N, Valente L. The macroevolutionary impact of recent and imminent mammal extinctions on Madagascar (2023) Nature Communications.
Etienne RS, Haegeman B, Dugo-Cota A, Vilà C, Gonzalez-Voyer A, Valente L. The phylogenetic limits to diversity-dependent diversification (2023) Systematic Biology.
Valente L, Phillimore AB, Melo M, Warren BH, Clegg SM, Havenstein K, Tiedemann R, Illera JC, Aschenbach T, Thébaud C, Etienne RS. A simple dynamic model explains the diversity of island birds worldwide (2020) Nature.
Valente L, Etienne RS, Garcia-R JC. Deep macroevolutionary impact of humans on New Zealand's unique avifauna (2019) Current Biology.
Valente L, Etienne RS, Dávalos L. Recent extinctions disturb path to equilibrium diversity in Caribbean bats (2017) Nature Ecology and Evolution.
Valente L, Phillimore AB, Etienne RS. Equilibrium and non-equilibrium dynamics simultaneously operate in the Galápagos islands (2015) Ecology Letters.
PhDSupervision
Naturalis aims to be a breeding ground for international scientific talent. Therefore, PhD's have a special position in our organisation. More info on students working in my team: www.luis-valente.com
Current PhD students:
- Ryan Brewer (Naturalis/University of Groningen)
- Tianjian Qin (University of Groningen)
- Ornela Nanwou (University of Groningen/Naturalis)
- Yang Shen (University of Groningen)
- Lizzie Roeble (Naturalis/University of Groningen)
