At Otal Valley (Pyrenees, 04; picture by Miguel Angel Olivares)
"The entire process is exentropic owing to the flow of energy from the sun to the outer space but the local processes may lead to great order such as a rotifer, a sonnet, or the smile on the face of Mona Lisa." (Harold J. Morowitz, 1980. Entropy for Biologists. Academic Press; page 169)
Institute Cavanilles of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology & Department of Microbiology and Ecology
Laboratory: Evolutionary Ecology
Snail mail:
Institute Cavanilles of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology
University of Valencia
A.O. 2085
E46071 Valencia (SPAIN)
Telephone:
(+34) 96 354 3661
Fax:
(+34) 96 354 3670
E-mail:
Theoretical and empirical studies on population and evolutionary ecology with emphasis on genetic, physiological and behavioral components of adaptation to environmental variation in space and time. Demographic, ecological, genetic and evolutionary implications of cyclical parthenogenesis. Life-history evolution with stress on evolution of sexual reproduction patterns in rotifers. Evolution of sex. Complex dynamics and viability analysis of zooplankton populations. Cryptic speciation. Species competition and coexistence, with emphasis on zooplankton.
Ten selected papers (≤ 2004):
Gómez, A., & M. Serra (1996). Mate choice in male Brachionus plicatilis rotifers. Func. Ecol. 10: 681-687.
Aparici, E., M.J. Carmona & M. Serra (1998). Sex allocation in haplodiploid cyclical parthenogens with density-dependent proportion of males. Am. Nat. 152: 654-659.
Ciros, J., M.J. Carmona & M. Serra (2001). Resource competition between sympatric sibling rotifer species. Limnol. Ocean. 44: 1511-1523.
Aparici, E., M.J. Carmona & M. Serra (2002). Evidence for an even sex allocation in haplodiploid cyclical parthenogens. J. Evol. Biol. 15: 65-73.
Ciros, J., M.J. Carmona & M. Serra (2002). Resource competition and patterns of sexual reproduction in sympatric sibling rotifer species. Oecologia 131: 35-42.
Lapesa, S., T.W. Snell, D.M. Fields & M. Serra (2002). Predatory interactions between a cyclopoid copepod and three srotifer sibling species. Freshwater Biol. 47: 1693-1695.
Gómez, A., M. Serra, G.R. Carvalho & D.H. Lunt (2002). Speciation in ancient cryptic complexes: evidence from the molecular phylogeny of Brachionus plicatilis (Rotifera). Evolution 56: 1431-1444.
Ortells, R., A. Gómez & M. Serra (2003). Coexistence of cryptic species: ecological and genetic characterisation of Brachionus plicatilis. Freshwater Biol. 48: 2194-2202.
Serra, M., T.W. Snell & C.E. King (2004). The timing of sex in cyclically parthenogenetic rotifers. In: A. Moya & E. Font (eds.), Evolution. From molecules to ecosystems. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Ciros-Perez, J., M.J. Carmona, S. Lapesa & M.Serra (2004). Predation as a factor mediating resource competition among rotifer sibling species. Limnol. Ocean. 49: 40-50.
Papers (>2004):
King, C.E., C. Ricci, J. Schonfeld & M. Serra (2005) Evolutionary dynamics of the bdelloid and monogonont rotifer life-history patterns. Hydrobiologia 546: 44-50.
Kotani, T., A. Hagiwara, T.W. Snell & M. Serra (2005.) Eurihaline Brachionus strains (Rotifera) from tropical habitats: morphology and allozyme patterns. Hidrobiología 546: 161-167.
Campillo, S., E.M. García-Roger, D. Martínez-Torres & M. Serra (2005). Morphological stasis of two species belonging to the L-morphotype in the Brachionus plicatilis complex. Hidrobiología 546: 181-187.
García-Roger, E., M.J. Carmona & M. Serra (2005). Deterioration patterns in diapausing egg banks of Brachionus (Müller, 1786) rotifer species. J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 314: 149-161.
Serra, M., T.W. Snell & J. Gilbert (2005). Delayed mixis in rotifers: an adaptive response to the effects of density-dependent sex on population growth. J. Plankton Res. 27: 37-45.
Ortells, R., A. Gómez & M. Serra (2006). Effects of duration of the planktonic phase on rotifer genetic diversity. Arch. Hydrobiol. 167: 203-216
García-Roger, E.M., A. Martínez & M. Serra (2006). Starvation tolerance of rotifers produced from parthenogenetic eggs and from diapausing eggs: a life table experiement. J. Plankton Res. 28: 257-265.
García-Roger E.M., M.J. Carmona & M. Serra (2006). Hatching and viability of rotifer diapausing eggs collected from pond sediments. Freshwater Biol. 51: 1351-1358
García-Roger, E.M., M.J. Carmona & M. Serra (2006). Patterns in rotifer diapausing egg bank: density and viability. J. Exper. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 336: 198-210.
García-Roger E.M., M.J. Carmona & M. Serra (2006). A simple model relating habitat features to a diapausing egg bank. Limnol. Ocean. 51: 1542-1547.
Fontanero D., I. Giordani, G. Melone & M. Serra (2007). Disentangling the morphological stasis in two rotifer species of the Brachionus plicatilis species complex. Hydrobiologia 583: 297–307.
Gómez, A., J. Montero-Pau, D.H. Luna, M. Serra & S. Campillo (2007). Persistent genetic signatures of colonization in Brachionus manjavacas rotifers in the Iberian Peninsula. Mol. Ecol. 16: 3228–3240.
García-Roger, E.M., X. Armengol, M.J. Carmona & M. Serra (2008). Assessing rotifer diapausing egg bank diversity and abundance in brackish temporary environments: an ex situ sediment incubation approach. Arch. Hydrobiol. 173: 79-88.
Serra, M., E. Aparici & M.J. Carmona (2008). When to be sexual: sex allocation theory and population density-dependent induction of sex in cyclical parthenogens. J. Plankton Res. 30: 1207-1214.
Serra, M. & T.W. Snell (2009). Sex loss in monogonont rotifers. In: Isa Schön, Koen Martens & Peter Van Dijk (Eds.) Lost Sex. Springer, Berlin.
García-Roger E.M., N. Dias, M.J. Carmona & M. Serra (2009). Crossed induction of sex in sympatric congeneric rotifer populations. Limnol. Ocean. 54: 1845-1854.
Carmona, M.J., N. Dimas-Flores, E.M. García-Roger & M. Serra (2009). Selection of low investment in sex in a cyclically parthenogenetic rotifer. J. Evol. Biol. 22: 1975–1983.
Tortajada, A.M., M.J. Carmona & M. Serra M. (2009). Does Haplodiploidy Purge Inbreeding Depression in Rotifer Populations? PLoS ONE 4(12): e8195. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0008195.
Campillo, S., E.M. García-Roger, M.J. Carmona, A. Gómez & M. Serra (2009). Selection on life-history traits and genetic population divergence in rotifers . J. Evol. Biol. 22: 2542–2553.
Tortajada, A.M., M.J. Carmona & M. Serra (2010). Effects of population outcrossing on rotifer fitness. BMC Evolutionary Biology 10:312.
Ecology; five-year major (B.S.) in Biology, mandatory. Professor in charge.
Population and Evolutionary Ecology; five-year major (B.S.) in Biology, optional. Professor in charge.
Processes and mechanisms of evolution, new four-year major (B.S.) in Biology, mandatory.
Evolutionary Ecology; Master in Biodiversity: Conservation and Evolution. Professor in charge.