Evolution of Networks Lab
Many physical, biologial and social systems can be represented as networks. Thinking of real systems in this way can often lead to novel and useful insights. These mathematical abstractions help us to visualize complex systems, to find useful measures of complexity and eventually develop computational models of reality. Evolution of Networks, led by CSIC Tenured Scientist Sergi Valverde, studies natural and artificial networks in the search for universal evolutionary principles. We are interested in the role played by emergence, convergence and environmental fluctuations in the origin of evolutionary innovations, and how the pattern and process of evolution differs when traits are learned rather than transmitted genetically. The group brings expertise in complex systems, complex networks, and theoretical ecology. An unique approach of our lab is the complex networks perspective of the evolution of culture, which we have pionnered (see our review paper here). We also develop systematic ways to recollect and analyse the rich fossil record of innovations.”
Web page: Valverde Lab
Duran-Nebreda S, Bentley RA, Vidiella B, Spiridonov A, Eldredge N, O’Brien, MJ, Valverde S. 2024. On the multiscale dynamics of punctuated evolution. Trends in Ecology & Evolution. DOI:10.1016/j.tree.2024.05.003
O’Brien MJ, Valverde S, Duran‐Nebreda S, Vidiella B, Bentley RA. 2023. Punctuated equilibrium at 50: Anything there for evolutionary anthropology? Yes; definitely. Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews. DOI:10.1002/evan.22009
Duran-Nebreda S, Valverde S. 2023. Composition, structure and robustness of Lichen guilds. Scientific Reports, 13(1):3295. DOI:10.1038/s41598-023-30357-w
Bentley RA, Horne B, Borycz J, Carrignon S, Shteynberg G, Vidiella B, Valverde S, O’Brien MJ. 2023. Cultural Evolution, Disinformation, and Social Division. International Society for Adaptive Behavior. DOI:10.1177/10597123231186432
Bentley R.A, Valverde S, Borycz J, Vidiella B, Horne BD, Duran-Nebreda S, O’Brien MJ. 2023. Is disruption decreasing, or is it accelerating? Advances in Complex Systems, 26(02):1-9. DOI:10.1142/S0219525923500066
Vidiella B, Carrignon S, Bentley RA, O’Brien MJ, Valverde S. 2022. A cultural evolutionary theory that explains both gradual and punctuated change. Journal of The Royal Society Interface, 19(196). DOI:10.1098/rsif.2022.0570
Galiana N, Lurgi M, Bastazini VAG, Bosch J, Cagnolo L, Cazelles K, Claramunt-López B, Emer C, Fortin MJ, Grass I, Hernández-Castellano C, Jauker F, Leroux SJ, McCann K, McLeod AM, Montoya D, Mulder C, Osorio-Canadas S, Reverté S, Rodrigo A, Steffan-Dewenter I, Traveset A, Valverde S, Vázquez DP, Wood SA, Gravel D, Roslin T, Thuiller W, Montoya JM. 2022. Ecological network complexity scales with area. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 6(3):307-314. DOI:10.1038/s41559-021-01644-4
Duran-Nebreda S, O’Brien MJ, Bentley RA, Valverde S. 2022. Dilution of expertise in the rise and fall of collective innovation. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 9(1):365. DOI:10.1057/s41599-022-01380-5
Vidiella B, Fontich E, Valverde S, Sardanyés J. 2021. Habitat loss causes long extinction transients in small trophic chains. Theoretical Ecology, 14(4):641-661. DOI:10.1007/s12080-021-00509-7
Valverde S. 2021. The long and winding road: Accidents and tinkering in software standardization. Mètode, 26(11):91-97. DOI:10.7203/metode.11.16112
Bentley RA, Carrignon S, Ruck DJ, Valverde S, O’Brien MJ. 2021. Neutral models are a tool, not a syndrome. Nature Human Behaviour, 5(7):807-808. DOI:10.1038/s41562-021-01149-x
Valverde S, Vidiella B, Montañez R, Fraile A, Sacristán S, García-Arenal F. 2020. Coexistence of nestedness and modularity in host–pathogen infection networks. Nature Ecology and Evolution,4(4):568-577. DOI:10.1038/s41559-020-1130-9
Solé R, Valverde S. 2020. Evolving complexity: how tinkering shapes cells, software and ecological networks. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 375(1796). DOI:10.1098/rstb.2019.0325
Solé R, Valverde S. 2020. Evolving complexity: how tinkering shapes cells, software and ecological networks. The Royal Society. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0325
Ferrando-Bernal M, Morcillo-Suarez C, De-Dios T, Gelabert P, Civit S, Díaz-Carvajal A, Ollich-Castanyer I, Allentoft ME, Valverde S, Lalueza-Fox C. 2020. Mapping co-ancestry connections between the genome of a Medieval individual and modern Europeans. Scientific Reports, 10(1):6843. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-64007-2
Valverde S, Piñero J, Corominas-Murtra B, Montoya J, Joppa L, Solé R. 2018. The architecture of mutualistic networks as an evolutionary spandrel. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 2(1):94-99. DOI:10.1038/s41559-017-0383-4
Corominas-Murtra B, Seoane LF, Solé R. 2018. Zipf’s Law, unbounded complexity and open-ended evolution. Journal of The Royal Society Interface, 15(149):20180395. DOI:10.1098/rsif.2018.0395
Valverde S. 2017. Breakdown of Modularity in Complex Networks. Frontiers in Physiology, 8:1-8. DOI:10.3389/fphys.2017.00497
Aguilar D, Pinart M, Koppelman GH, Saeys Y, Nawijn MC, Postma DS, Akdis M, Auffray C, Ballereau S, Benet M, García-Aymerich J, González JR, Guerra S, Keil T, Kogevinas M, Lambrecht B, Lemonnier N, Melen E, Sunyer J, Valenta R, Valverde S, Wickman M, Bousquet J, Oliva B, Antó JM. 2017. Computational analysis of multimorbidity between asthma, eczema and rhinitis. PLoS ONE, 12(6):1-26. DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0179125
Valverde S. 2016. Major transitions in information technology. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 371(1701). DOI:10.1098/rstb.2015.0450
Valverde S, Sole RV. 2015. Punctuated equilibrium in the large-scale evolution of programming languages. Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 12(107). DOI:10.1098/rsif.2015.0249
Valverde S, Solé RV. 2015. A cultural diffusion model for the rise and fall of programming languages. Human Biology, 87(3):224-234. DOI:10.13110/humanbiology.87.3.0224
Valverde S, Ohse S, Turalska M, West BJ, Garcia-Ojalvo J. 2015. Structural determinants of criticality in biological networks. Frontiers in Physiology, 6(may):1-9. DOI:10.3389/fphys.2015.00127
Weitz JS, Poisot T, Meyer JR, Flores CO, Valverde S, Sullivan MB, Hochberg ME. 2013. Phage-bacteria infection networks. Trends in Microbiology, 21(2):82-91. DOI:10.1016/j.tim.2012.11.003