Research Interests
I am interested in diverse tropical ecosystems: their ecology, evolution and conservation, with a special interest in bat biology.
Current Research
Hotspots are sanctuaries of biodiversity. Yet, with global change, many species are committed to extinction and preservation plans need to be established. What do we want to preserve most? 
Areas with the largest number of species or those with the richest evolutionary history? In an effort to identify important areas for biodiversity, a variety of measures have been employed which capture different aspects of life on earth. Of these, the most commonly used is undoubtedly species richness. Recently, however, there has been a growing interest in using a measure of biodiversity which incorporates evolutionary history (phylogentic diversity). This sort of approach has been proposed because some species are more phenotypically and genetically isolated than others and thus arguably deserve more conservation attention. The relationship between these two measures has yet to be determined and will have important consequences for conservation prioritisation.
My PhD research deals with conservation planning challenges in view of the increasing threat of climate change. More specifically, I am investigating:
1) the usefulness of incorporating a measure of evolutionary diversity for conservation prioritisation and
2) what potential effects climate change will have on species richness and phylogenetic diversity patterns for several Southern African animal and plant taxa
I use species distribution modeling, GIS, molecular and phylogenetic techniques
Curriculum Vitae
Born 1979, Florence, Italy
2006-present: PhD student, Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne: “Biodiversity patterns, evolutionary history and climate change in Southern Africa”. Marie Curie Early-Stage Research and Training Network “HOTSPOTS: Understanding and Conserving the Earth’s Biodiversity Hotspots” (FP6 Marie Curie Actions). Supervisors: Prof. A. Guisan, Dr N. Salamin
2004-2006: UNESCO Consultant, Ecology Unit, Jakarta, Indonesia. Forest protection and management, law enforcement and community conservation in Indonesian World Heritage Sites.
2005: Project leader. First comprehensive bat survey at Barito Ulu, Central Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo. http://webspace.qmul.ac.uk/mstruebig/Barito.htm
2003-2004: MSc Applied Ecology and Conservation, University of East Anglia, UK. “Bat communities in continuous and fragmented forest, Songkla Province, Thailand”.
2001-2002: Volunteer on post-doctoral project “The effect of selective logging techniques on lowland forest bat communities, Trinidad, West Indies”.
1998-2003: BSc Zoology (Animal Ecology) University of Aberdeen, UK
Languages: English, Italian, French, Indonesian
Publications
Pio, D.V., Broennimann, O., Rebelo, A.G., Reeves G., Barraclough T., Thuiller, W., Guisan A. & Salamin, N. (submitted) Future phylogenetic diversity patterns challenge conservation needs in a changing world
Struebig M.J., Christy L., Pio, D.V., & Meijaard E. (2008) Bats of Borneo: diversity, distributions and representation in protected areas, Biodiversity and Conservation (In Press)
Clarke, F.M., Pio D.V. & Racey P.A. (2005) A comparison of logging systems and bat diversity in the Neotropics Conservation Biology. 19:4, 1194-1204
Contact details
E-mail: dorothea.pio@unil.ch
Laboratoire de Biologie de la Conservation,
Department of Ecology and Evolution,
University of Lausanne,
Biophore 1015,
Lausanne,
Switzerland