Dr. Adriana Alzate

I am a macroecologist and evolutionary ecologist, interested in understanding the causes behind biodiversity patterns and, from this knowledge, contributing to the development of strategies to halt its loss. My research integrates macroecological and macroevolutionary approaches, data synthesis, and mechanistic models to understand how dispersal influences key processes such as colonization, extinction, local adaptation, and species distribution.

I work with a wide diversity of organisms (including terrestrial and aquatic plants and animals) and combine empirical studies, such as meso-scale experiments, with large database analyses and global-scale synthesis. This multi-scale approach allows me to generate a comprehensive understanding of the ecological and evolutionary processes that shape biodiversity.

My experience includes leading interdisciplinary projects, fieldwork in diverse environments, and collaborating with local communities, environmental managers, and decision-makers, with the goal of generating knowledge useful for conservation.

Since 2023, I have served as the secretary on the Board of Directors of the Ecomares Foundation, where I support the management, operations, and development of its projects.

• 2025 – Presente Investigadora Invitada, Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, the Netherlands
• 2023 – Presente Secretaria y miembro Junta Directiva, Ecomares, Colombia
• 2022 – 2024   Investigadora postdoctoral, Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, the Netherlands. Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship.
• 2020 – 2022   Investigadora postdoctoral, Synthesis Centre for biodiversity sciences y Evolution and Adaptation Group, German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Germany. sDiv individual post-doctoral grant.
• 2018 – 2020    Asistente técnica, Evolution and Adaptation Group, German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Germany.
• 2013 – 2018    PhD (doble grado), University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands y Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
• 2009 – 2011    Maestría en Ecología y Evolución, Top master program in Evolutionary Biology, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands. Talent grant.
• 1999 – 2005    Pregrado en Biología con énfasis en Ecología, Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia.

1. van der Plas, F., Schröder-Georgi, T., Weigelt, A., Barry, K., Meyer, S., Alzate, A., et al. Reply to: Plant traits alone are good predictors of ecosystem properties when used carefully. Nat Ecol Evol (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-022-01957-y
2. Alzate, A. & Onstein, R.E. (2022) Understanding the relationship between dispersal and range size Ecology Letters. 25(10): 2303-2323. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.14089
3. Bisschop, K., Alzate, A., Etienne, R. S. & Bonte, D. (2022) The demographic consequences of adaptation: evidence from experimental evolution. American Naturalist. 199(6): 729-742. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/719183.
4. Mendez, L., Viana, D.S., Alzate, A., Kissling, D.W., Eiserhardt, W.L., Rozzi, R., Rakotoarinivo, M. & Onstein, R.E. (2022) Megafrugivores as fading shadows of the past: current frugivores and forest cover as the most important determinants of the distribution of palms on Madagascar. Ecography. e05885. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.05885
5. van der Plas, F., Schröder-Georgi, T., Weigelt, A., Barry, K., Meyer, S., Alzate, A., et al. (2020) Plant traits are poor predictors of long-term ecosystem functioning. Nature Ecology and Evolution. 4:1602-1611. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-020-01316-9
6. Alzate, A., Onstein, R., Etienne, R. S. & Bonte, D. (2020) The role of preadaptation, propagule pressure and competition in the colonization of new habitats. Oikos. 129(6): 820-829. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/oik.06871
7. Alzate, A., Etienne, R. S. & Bonte, D. (2019) Experimental island biogeography demonstrates the importance of island size and dispersal for the adaptation to novel habitats. Global Ecology and Biogeography. 28(2):238-247. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.12846
8. Alzate, A., Janzen, T., Bonte, D., Rosindell, J. & Etienne, R. S. (2019) A simple spatially explicit neutral model explains range size distributions of reef fishes. Global Ecology and Biogeography. 28(7):875-890. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.12899
9. Alzate, A., van der Plas, F., Zapata, F.A., Bonte, D., & Etienne, R. S. (2019). Incomplete datasets obscure correlations between traits related to dispersal and geographic range size of reef fishes in the Tropical Eastern Pacific. Ecology and Evolution. 9(4):1567-1577. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.4734
10. Alzate, A., Bisschop, K., Etienne, R. S. & Bonte, D. (2017) Interspecific competition counteracts negative effects of dispersal on adaptation of an arthropod herbivore to a new host. Journal of Evolutionary Biology. 30(11):1966-1977. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jeb.13123
11. Janzen, T., Alzate, A., Muschick, M., Maan, M. E., van der Plas, F. & Etienne, R. S. (2017) Community assembly in Lake Tanganyika cichlid fish: quantifying the contribution of both niche-based and neutral processes. Ecology and Evolution. 7(4): 1057-1067. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.2689
12. Kölzsch, A., Alzate, A., Bartumeus, F., de Jager, M., Weerman, E., Hengeveld, G.M., Naguib, M., Nolet, B.A. & van de Koppel, J. (2015) Experimental evidence for inherent Lévy search behaviour in foranging animals. Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 282(1807): 20150424. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2015.0424
13. Alzate, A., Zapata, F. A. & Giraldo, A. (2014) A comparison of visual and collection-based methods for assessing community structure of coral reef fishes in the Tropical Eastern Pacific. Revista de Biología Tropical. 62: 359-371. DOI: https://doi.org/10.15517/rbt.v62i0.16361
14. Alzate, A., Muñoz, G. G., Zapata, F. A. & Giraldo, A. (2012) New records of cryptobenthic fishes in coral reef habitats of Gorgona island, Colombia, Tropical Eastern Pacific. Bulletin of Marine and Coastal Research. 41: 229-235.