The Project

The title of my Professional Practice is: “Detecting Patterns of Deep-Water Coral Genetic Diversity Hotspots”.  Distributional changes of marine organisms in response to climate change have been observed across a wide range of marine species, at global scales. Throughout the Quaternary period, the earth´s climate has fluctuated periodically, from periods of extended ice coverage where organisms retreated into climatically suitable refugia, to warmer periods where the ice retreated to the poles and organisms expanded their distribution. As a result of these fluctuations, populations´ genetic diversity is often distributed unevenly, with refugial areas harbouring a large proportion of total diversity, vital for the species persistence and adaptive potential. The aim of this internship was to compile available genetic data for deep-water corals, which may enable the detection of patterns of intraspecific genetic diversity variation across species, identifying hotspots of genetic diversity.

For the detection of climate-induced range shifts throughout space and time species distribution records are essential. However, compiling information from peer-reviewed literature is challenging by two key obstruction. Liability may be one of the complications, as data may contain taxonomic or thematic errors. Secondly, it is a time-consuming method, since disparate publications lack standardized formats. The understanding of the impact of anthropogenically-induced climate change on marine ecosystems, is crucial for future protection of these habitats. Therefore, I found this topic very important and purposeful. I already knew CCMAR from my first semester at the University of Algarve and that’s one of the reasons why I chose this topic. Besides, I had a keen interest in exploring genetical principles within refugial areas, and I looked forward to deepening my understanding the nature of biological variability and genetical processes. This program seemed to be a great start to apply the genetical and evolutional approaches in my further studies.