António Onofre Soares

Group Leader

Conservation Biodiversity Biological Control Applied Ecology Agroforetry Sustanability

I received a Ph.D. in Ecology from the University of the Azores in 2021 and I am currently leading the Research Group “Agroforestry Ecology” and the Thematic Line 4 “Towards Sustainable and Resilient Ecosystems”. I am a Professor of Ecology at the University of the Azores.
My research has primarily focused on the ecological basis of biological control, mostly using predator and parasitoids as model’s species, but linking the applied dimension to fundamental research. I also have significantly contributed to better understand the reasons behind the success or failure of invader ladybirds in insular context, and thus addressing conservation issues. For instance, my studies have provided comprehensive results on ecological, biological and populational traits of natural enemies viewing its use on augmentative or conservation biological control programs. Additionally, my studies delved deeper into behavioral and evolutionary aspects of natural enemies.

I’m coordinator of the Ph.D. programme in Biology at FCT-UAc. I was involved in projects, including PO2020, Cost-Actions and Horizon 2020. I was involved in Citizen Science projects, including the development of the mobile App “European Ladybirds”. I’m Red List Authority Coordinator of the IUCN SSC Ladybird Specialist Group, assessing the conservation status of ladybirds around the word.
My current research is driven by three overarching objectives: i) making agricultural production a sustainable activity, ii) Understanding the evolutionary constraints on the effectiveness of natural enemies and iii) understand the impact of landscape changes on the structure and composition of biotic communities.