Natalya Zapata-Mesa

I am a Colombian biologist and completed my PhD in ecology at the University of São Paulo, Brazil. There, I studied how landscape structure shapess antagonistic interactions, using bat-fly interaction networks as a model. Before that, I did my Master’s degree in Mexico, where I studied seed dispersal processes, building experience with biotic interactions across Latin America.

Outside the lab, I enjoy playing team sports such as football and volleyball, and I share my home with a couple of cats, who are largely unimpressed by my research.

My research lies at the intersection of community ecology, network ecology and landscape ecology, and I am becoming increasingly interested in macroecology. My broader goal is to translate ecological insights into real-world benefits by connecting biodiversity science with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, particularly in the context of One Health and food security. In my current postdoctoral project, I am investigating how landscape composition and artificial light at night affect ecological interactions, using the BatFly (external link, opens in a new window) database as a model system.

Zapata-Mesa, N., Montoya-Bustamante, S., Hoyos, J., et al. (2024). BatFly: A database of Neotropical bat-fly interactions. Ecology 105, e4249. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.4249 (external link, opens in a new window)

Kita, C.A., Florez-Montero, G., Montoya-Bustamante, S., Muylaert, R.L., Zapata-Mesa, N., and Mello, M.A.R. (2022). Ten simple rules for reporting information on species interactions. PLOS Computational Biology 18, e1010362. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1010362 (external link, opens in a new window)

Zapata-Mesa, N., Montoya-Bustamante, S., Murillo-García, O.E. (2017). Temporal variation in bat-fruit interactions: foraging strategies influence network structure over time. Acta Oecologica 85, 9–17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actao.2017.09.003 (external link, opens in a new window)