Projects

Main line of investigation

The unifying goal of our research is to help connect the dots between data and ideas. With this approach, we make syntheses about different types of species interactions, including seed dispersal, pollination, plant protection, parasitism, and zoonosis.

The umbrella project of our lab

Developments of the integrative hypothesis of specialization

Summary: At the Ecological Synthesis Laboratory (SintECO), we are committed to studying interactions between organisms of different species. With an approach based on network science, in our previous project funded by FAPESP and other agencies, we developed an innovative cognitive model, the integrative specialization hypothesis (IHS), which sheds light on the assembly rules of interaction networks. Originally conceived as a graphical model, after a transformation into an algorithmic model that resulted in a successful proof of concept, the IHS proved capable of explaining how the four main topologies observed in interaction networks in nature emerge. Now, in a new phase of our project, we intend to consolidate the IHS by going beyond purely ecological systems and, for the first time, exploring its implications applied to socio-ecological systems. First, we will present the IHS as a discursive model, that is, an efficient theory in the strict sense, framed in the semantic epistemological view. Second, we will investigate practical applications of the IHS by investigating socio-ecological interactions related to complex systems involving human, animal, and environmental health, as well as anthropogenic impacts on biodiversity. Thus, we will consolidate a new theory that can be used as a tool not only for the study of species interactions, but also of ecosystem services. With these next steps, we are committing to advance our line of research into the assembly rules of complex ecological systems, which is already beginning to have a significant impact on several fields of study. Our project also has the potential to help achieve some of the Sustainable Development Goals proposed by the United Nations, also following the One Health perspective.

Projects within a project

All postdoc and student projects in our lab are linked to our umbrella project in different ways. Find out more about individual projects on the Lattes curricula of our lab members. You can check out our full publication list here. See our main sponsors.

Written synthesis

Our project reached its final stage: maturing from a hypothesis into a theory. If you’d like to know more about this story, check out the habilitation thesis of Prof. Mello, which summarizes 14 years of team work. We expect to finish writing up our new theory in the near future.