López Martínez María Pilar

Investigación

    My research career has always been linked to Evolutionary Ecology,  with a central focus on understanding how behavioural, sensory, and signalling traits are shaped by environmental conditions to maximise individual fitness and reproductive success.  In the Sensory Ecology line, which constitutes a major axis of my research, I examine the function, evolution, and diversification of visual and chemical signalling systems, and their role in sexual selection (male-male competition and female mate choice), and social communication. A particular emphasis of this line is understanding how signalling systems operate and evolve in challenging environments, especially subterranean habitats where sensory conditions are highly constrained. Within this framework, I investigate how environmental heterogeneity drives local adaptation in sensory and communication traits, and how such adaptive divergence among populations can promote phenotypic differentiation and potentially contribute to population divergence and early stages of speciation. Through an integrative approach combining behavioural ecology, evolutionary biology, and sensory biology, my research seeks to elucidate how ecological pressures shape communication systems and generate biodiversity. 

    I also investigate how animals resolve conflicts of interest in antipredator responses and how these responses are optimised under varying ecological constraints. This includes analysing trade-offs between survival and reproduction, as well as examining how habitat quality and ecosystem conservation status influence reptile population health. Additionally, I assess the ecological impact of invasive reptile species on native communities, integrating behavioural, demographic, and conservation perspectives.