Speciation patterns of beetles in the highlands of Ecuador

The páramo ecosystem exhibits high endemicity and diversity, where allopatric speciation appears to be the main driver for species diversification. Ecuadorian páramo is restricted to the mountain tops between inter-Andean valleys. The present research aims to elucidate speciation patterns of widely distributed species of beetles present in isolated páramo patches across highland Ecuador. Sampling targets 16 sites in the páramo ecosystem (3500 – 4000 m), through pitfall traps and hand collecting.  Ground beetles and weevils appears to be the most abundant taxa in the provinces of Pichincha and Imbabura where preliminary collections where done. Through phylogeographic analyses of nuclear and mitochondrial DNA markers we expect to reconstruct historical and contemporary patterns of widely distributed species and as well as to determine sites with high diversification for highland beetles.  We also expect to correlate this patterns with geological events such as the rise of the eastern and western cordillera, which have proved to be important barriers of species. The analyses of isolated patches across the inter-Andean corridor will determine how isolated beetle species are between páramo patches and the level of connectivity between populations.  The study of highland species will contribute to the conservation of the páramo ecosystem as well as to the assessment of its diversity.