The questions we want to answer with this project are: how do species sorting and natural selection covariate in relation to environmental gradients; and to which extent does genetic diversity promote or slow down species diversity in local communities, in a metacommunity context?

We want to investigate the relationship between genetic diversity and species diversity in the natural, regional context of metacommunities. In a field survey we will compare patterns of variation in traits in a specific zooplankton species (the waterflea Daphnia magna) with patterns of traits and species composition of the zooplankton community. The calculation of specific parameters (FST(1), CFST(2), QST(3), CQST(4), CST(5)) will allow us to do an analysis of the between-habitat variation in the various variables which gives us more insight in the factors that influence the covariation between genetic diversity and species diversity.

The field survey will be carried out in three regions: in Belgium, Spain and Hungary. In he region of the National Park of Doñana, a number of young, experimental ponds and a number of older ponds will be sampled to compare genetic differentiation amongst new and established ponds.


(1) FST : quantifies the among-population component of variation in genetic markers (measure of effective isolation)
(2) CFST : average FST of all species in the community (in practice: a representative sample of species in the community)
(3) QST : quantifies the among-population component of variation in quantitative traits (e.g. size at maturity, number of offspring etc.)
(4) CQST : average QST of all species in the community (a representative subset of species…)
(5) CST : quantifies ß-diversity; calculated as the among-habitat component of the variation in species composition