SPECIATIONDB - Fondation pour la recherche sur la biodiversité

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Creating an open-access database on speciation across the tree of life

Understanding how species form and persist is a central challenge in evolutionary biology and biodiversity science. While many studies have quantified reproductive isolation across diverse organisms, these data remain fragmented and difficult to compare across taxa.

The FRB-CESAB SpeciationDB project will address this gap by creating the first open-access, standardised and scalable database of empirical reproductive isolation estimates across the tree of life. Building on initial work within the ESEB-funded Integration of Speciation (IoS) network, including the development of a Reproductive Isolation Ontology (RIO), the project will compile and harmonise these data within a common framework.

By integrating reproductive isolation estimates with ecological, geographical and genomic metadata, SpeciationDB will enable large-scale comparative analyses to identify the key drivers of species formation and persistence.

This database will provide a valuable resource for research and conservation, while guiding future data collection and promoting standardised reporting practices.

Crédits | Photography by Sophie Webster

Researchers

Principal Investigators

Joana MEIER – Wellcome Sanger Institute and University of Cambridge (UK)

Carole SMADJA – CNRS (France)

ouvrir/fermer Participants

Christopher COONEY – University of Sheffield (UK) ; Roger BUTLIN – University of Sheffield (UK) ; Jonna KULMUNI – University of Amsterdam (Netherland) ; Konrad LOHSE – University of Edinburgh (UK) ; Richard MERRILL – Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (Germany) ; Rowan SCHLEY – University of Exeter (UK) ; Hilde SCHNEEMANN – Institute of Science and Technology Austria (Austria) ; Elizabeth SCORDATO – California State Polytechnic (USA) ; Sonal SINGHAL – California State University, Dominguez Hills (USA) ; Sean STANKOWSKI – University College London (UK) ; Parvathy SURENDRANADH – University of Vienna (Austria) ; Jonah WALKER – Wellcome Sanger Institute & University of Cambridge (UK).

The SpeciationDB project brings together experts in speciation research with diverse and complementary expertise spanning various approaches (micro- versus macroevolution, comparative, field-based, experimental, theoretical approaches), data types (phenotypic, behavioural, genomic, ecological), and taxonomic groups.

Le projet

SpeciationDB was selected from the 2025 IdeaShare and DataShare call for proposals. The project selection process was carried out by a committee of independent experts.