Our understanding of speciation has progressed mainly through the accumulation of individual case studies, many of which focused on a few model systems. Although this has led to significant insights, we still lack a broad comparative framework that could inform us about general patterns and processes underlying speciation.
Since many speciation studies have now been conducted in non-model organisms, the time is ripe for a synthesis. The broad aim of IOS is to move speciation research towards making greater use of systematic and comparative analyses across studies and systems.
IOS will promote a framework for integrative speciation research and develop tools for comparative analyses. The network will outline best practices for data generation and analysis, encourage data sharing perform comparative analyses of existing speciation studies from across the tree of life, and foster diversity and inclusion in our scientific community.
We also plan to organise activities (e.g. seminars, workshops) with the aim of facilitating discussion and promoting knowledge exchange between all corners of speciation research.
For more information, visit our ESEB Special Topics Network page.
