NULIBAC research group (Paraiba, Brazil)
Dr Luciana Barbosa, Head of the Laboratory
The research group's focus on the ecology and conservation of inland aquatic ecosystems under global environmental change, with emphasis on aquatic biodiversity, functional diversity, ecosystem functioning and ecological resilience. The research addresses the effects of multiple stressors, including climate change, drought, eutrophication and anthropogenic pressures on freshwater ecosystems, particularly in dryland regions, temporary lentic ecosystems and oceanic islands. The studies integrate trait-based ecology, hydrological dynamics, long-term ecological monitoring, macroecology and global ecological synthesis, as well as the development of international collaborative networks aimed at advancing scientific knowledge and the conservation of freshwater biodiversity at a global scale.
Primary research lines:
1. Ecology and Conservation of Aquatic Ecosystems on Oceanic Islands
Objective: To study the biodiversity, ecological functioning, and conservation of insular aquatic ecosystems, with an emphasis on tropical oceanic islands.
Keywords: Insular limnology; Endemism and conservation; Climate change; Human pressures; Biogeography.
2. Global Monitoring and Synthesis Networks in Limnology
Objective: To develop, through collaborative international networks, monitoring, methodological harmonization, integration of ecological data, and global synthesis regarding biodiversity and the functioning of aquatic ecosystems.
Keywords: Global ecological synthesis; Biodiversity monitoring; Open science; Aquatic macroecology.
3. Ecology and Functioning of Aquatic Ecosystems in Arid and Semi-Arid Regions
Objective: To study ecological processes that structure continental aquatic ecosystems in dry zones, including temporary ponds and lentic environments generally subject to drought, eutrophication, natural hydrological variability, and/or variability induced by climate change and human pressures.
Keywords: Ecological resilience; Eutrophication; Hydrological cycle; Salinization; Climate change; Human pressures.
4. Functional Diversity and Ecosystem Functioning
Objective: To assess the taxonomic, molecular, and functional patterns of aquatic biodiversity and its responses to multiple environmental stressors at local and global scales, as well as to understand how biodiversity, functional traits, and trophic interactions regulate ecosystem processes, community stability, and ecological resilience in aquatic ecosystems. The emphasis is on trait-based ecology, functional diversity, and the relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning under natural and anthropogenic disturbances.
Keywords: Functional diversity; Functional redundancy; Functional traits; Trophic networks.
5. Ecology, Biodiversity, and Resilience of Temporary Lentic Ecosystems
Objective: To deepen the ecological understanding of temporary lentic ecosystems, with an emphasis on hydrological variability, biodiversity persistence, ecosystem functioning, and resilience under cycles of drying and flooding.
Keywords: Drying–rewetting dynamics; Temporary ponds; Temporary pools.
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