Daniel Pincheira-Donoso

Senior Lecturer in Evolutionary Biology & Macroecology at Queen's University Belfast (UK). His research is concerned with the role of natural selection as the fundamental driver of evolutionary change that leads to the origin, adaptation and extinctions of species, with the aim of understanding the global organisation of biodiversity, its responses to climate change and the implementation of actions for their conservation. His publications have appeared in a range of leading scientific journals, and have received widespread attention from the media globally. He has also authored and participated in different books about zoology and evolutionary biology.

Daniel has been elected Fellow of the Linnean Society of London (2017), is a Fellow of the British Higher Education Academy (2012), and is the recipient of the 2018 Philippi Medal for Science and of a Honorary Fellowship (2021) both awarded by the National Museum of Natural History of Chile. Since 2019, he holds a Visiting Professorship in Evolutionary Biology at the Universidad de La Serena (Chile). He is an Associate Editor for Global Ecology and Biogeography.

Academic Career
Lecturer, School of Biological Sciences, Queen's University Belfast, UK (2019-2021)
Lecturer/Senior Lecturer, School of Life Sciences, University of Lincoln, UK (2012-2018)
Leverhulme Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Exeter, UK (2009-2012)
NERC Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Exeter, UK (2009)
NERC Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Exeter, UK (2008-2009)
PhD Evolutionary Biology, University of Exeter, UK (2005-2008)
Research Associate in Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, Chile (2003-2005)
BSc Biology (Summa Cum Laude), University of Concepcion, Chile (2003)

E-mail: D.Pincheira-Donoso@qub.ac.uk
Tel: +44(0)28 9097 2967
Departmental Website
Google Scholar Profile

Selected Recent Publications

Mi, Ch., Ma, L., Yang, M., Li, X., Meiri, S., Roll, U., Oskyrko, O., Pincheira-Donoso, D., Harvey, L.P., Jablonski, D., Safaei-Mahroo, B., Ghaffari, H., Smid, J., Jarvie, S., Mwangi, R., Masroor, R., Kazemi, S., Nneji, L., Fokoua, A., Taboue, G.C.T., Bauer, A., Nogueira, C., Meirte, D., Chapple, D., Das, I., Grismer, L., Avila, L., Ribeiro-Junio, M., Tallowin, O., Torres-Carvajal, O., Wagner, P., Ron, S., Wang, Y., Itescu, Y., Nagy, Z., Wilcove, D. & Liu, X. (2023). Global Protected Areas as refuges for amphibians and reptiles under climate change. Nature Communications, 14: 1389.

Finn, C., Grattarola, F. & Pincheira-Donoso, D. (2023). More losers than winners: Anthropocene defaunation through the diversity of population trends. Biological Reviews (In Press).

Johnson, J.V., Finn, C., Guirguis, J., Goodyear, L.E.B., Harvey, L.P., Magee, R., Ron, S. & Pincheira-Donoso, D. (2023). What drives the evolution of body size in ectotherms? A global analysis across the amphibian tree of life. Global Ecology and Biogeography (In Press).

Pincheira-Donoso, D., Harvey, L.P., Johnson, J.V., Hudson, D., Finn, C., Goodyear, L.E.B., Guirguis, J., Hyland, E.M. & Hodgson, D.J. (2023). Genome size does not influence extinction risk in the world’s amphibians. Functional Ecology, 37: 190-200.
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Johnson, J., Dick, J. & Pincheira-Donoso, D. (2023). A global analysis of coral bleaching patterns in association with mangrove environments under global warming. Ecography (In Press). 
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Johnson, J.V., Dick, J. & Pincheira-Donoso, D. (2022). Local anthropogenic stress does not exacerbate coral bleaching under global climate change. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 31: 1228-1236.

Zimin, A., Zimin, S.V., Shine, R., Feldman, A., Bauer, A., Böhm, M., Brown, R., de Oliveira Caetano, G., Castro-Herrera, F., Chapple, D.G., Chirio, L., Colli, G.R., Doan, T.M., Glaw, F., Grismer, L.L., Itescu, Y., Kraus, F., LeBreton, M., Martins, M., Morando, M., Murali, G., Nagy, Z.T., Novosolov, M., Oliver, P., Passos, P., Pauwels, O.S.G., Pincheira-Donoso, D., Ribeiro Junior, M.A., Shea, G., Tingley, R., Torres-Carvajal, O., Trape, J.F., Uetz, P., Wagner, P., Roll, U. & Meiri, S. (2022). A global analysis of viviparity in squamates highlights its prevalence in cold climates and high elevations. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 31: 2437-2452.

Pincheira-Donoso, D., Harvey, L.P., Cotter, S.C., Stark, G., Meiri, S. & Hodgson, D.J. (2021) The global macroecology of brood size in amphibians reveals a predisposition of low-fecundity species to extinction. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 30: 1299-1310.

Pincheira-Donoso, D., Harvey, L.P., Grattarola, F., Jara, M., Cotter, S.C., Tregenza, T. & Hodgson, D.J. (2021). The multiple origins of sexual size dimorphism in global amphibians. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 30: 443-458.

Amado, T.F., Martinez, P.A., Pincheira-Donoso, D. & Olalla-Tárraga, M.A. (2021). Body size distributions in anurans are explained by diversification rates and the environment. Global Ecology & Biogeography, 30: 154-164.

Stark, G., Pincheira-Donoso, D. & Meiri, S. (2020). No evidence for the rate of living theory across the tetrapod tree of life. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 29, 857-884.

Meiri, S., Avila, L., Bauer, A.M., Chapple, D.G., Das, I., Doan, T.M., Doughty, P., Ellis, R., Grismer, L., Kraus, F., Morando, M., Oliver, P., Pincheira-Donoso, D., Ribeiro-Junior, M.A., Shea, G., Torres-Carvajal, O., Slavenko, A. & Roll, U. (2020). The global diversity and distribution of lizard clutch sizes. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 29, 1515-1530.

Cotter, S.C., Pincheira-Donoso, D. & Thorogood, R. (2019). Beyond brood parasites: personal immunity, social immunity and host-pathogen interactions. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B, Biological Sciences, 374: 0180207

Slavenko, A., Feldman, A., Allison, A., Bauer, A.M., Böhm, M., Chirio, L., Colli, G.R., Das, I., Doan, T.M., LeBreton, M., Martins, M., Meirte, D., Nagy, Z.T., Nogueira, C.C., Pauwels, O.S.G., Pincheira-Donoso, D., Roll, U., Wagner, P., Wang, Y., Meiri, S. (2019). Global patterns of body size evolution in squamate reptiles are not driven by climate. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 28: 471-483.

Pincheira-Donoso, D. & Hodgson, D.J. (2018). No evidence that extinction risk increases in the largest and smallest vertebrates. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 115, E5845-E5846.

Pincheira-Donoso, D., Tregenza, T., Butlin, R.K. & Hodgson, D.J. (2018). Sexes and species as rival units of niche saturation during community assembly. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 27, 593-603

Roll, U., Feldman, A., Novosolov, M., Allison, A., Bauer, A.M., Bernard, R., Böhm, M., Castro-Herrera, F., Chirio, L., Collen, B., Colli, G., Dabool, L., Das, I., Doan, T., Grismer, L., Hoogmoed, M., Itescu, Y., Kraus, F., LeBreton, M., Lewin, A., Martins, M., Maza, E., Meirte, D., Nagy, Z., Nogueira, C., Pauwels, O., Pincheira-Donoso, D., Powney, G., Sindaco, R., Tallowin, O., Torres-Carvajal, O., Trape, J., Vidan, E., Uetz, P., Wagner, P., Wang, Y., Orme, D., Grenyer, R. & Meiri, S. (2017). The global distribution of tetrapods reveals a need for targeted reptile conservation. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 1, 1677-1682.

Pincheira-Donoso, D., Jara, M., Reaney, A., García-Roa, R., Saldarriaga-Córdoba, M. & Hodgson, D.J. (2017). Hypoxia and hypothermia as rival agents of selection driving the evolution of viviparity in lizards. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 26, 1238-1246.

Pincheira-Donoso, D. & Hunt, J. (2017). Fecundity selection theory: concepts and evidence. Biological Reviews, 92, 341-356.

School of Biological Sciences
Queen's University Belfast
19 Chlorine Gardens, Belfast
BT9 5DL, United Kingdom
e-mail: D.Pincheira-Donoso@qub.ac.uk