Dr Tomasz Suchan
Assistant Professor
Research interests
- Phylogenetics and phylogeography, with special focus on arctic-alpine organisms.
- Evolution, ecology, and phylogeography of interspecific interactions.
- Conservation biology.
- Development of new next-generation-sequencing-based techniques, including the ones for degraded DNA (from museum, ancient, and environmental samples).
Higher education and employment history
- MSc degree at the University of Wrocław (2006).
- SCIEX fellow at the Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Switzerland (2011–2012).
- PhD degree at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland (2015).
- Postdoctoral researcher at the W. Szafer Institute of Botany, PAS (2015–2016)
- Postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Switzerland (2016).
- Assistant Professor at the W. Szafer Institute of Botany, PAS (since 2017).
- Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions fellow at the Molecular Anthropology and Synthesis Imagery Laboratory, University Paul Sabatier, Toulouse (2018–2020).
Membership and awards
- Member of the European Society for Evolutionary Biology (ESEB).
- Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Individual Fellowship (2018–2020).
- SCIEX Fellowship (2011–2012).
International experience
- Switzerland (2011–2012) – 18-month SCIEX fellowship; Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne.
- Spain (2015) – 2-month internship; Island Ecology and Evolution Research Group, Spanish National Research Council, La Laguna, Tenerife.
- France (2015) – 1-week internship; Palgene (French National Platform for Paleogenetics), Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon.
- France (2016) – 1-year postdoctoral stay; Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne.
- France (2018–2020) – 2-year Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Individual Fellowship; Molecular Anthropology and Synthesis Imagery Laboratory, University Paul Sabatier, Toulouse.
Research projects
- Effects of habitat fragmentation on pollination biology of Trollius europaeus in Lower Silesia (2010–2013); grant no. N N304 396139; Ministry of Science and Higher Education – project leader.
- CE4PIM: Comparative evolutionary ecology of an emblematic European plant-insect mutualism (2011–2012); grant no. 10.116; SCIEX program (Switzerland) – contributor (fellow).
- DRYADE: The fate of ecological interactions in a changing climate: using next-generation sequencing technologies to unravel adaptive and historical processes in a community of interrelated arctic-alpine organisms (2012–2016); grant no. PSPB-161/10; Polish-Swiss Research Programme – contributor.
- Consequences of species range contraction on the genetic diversity of cold-adapted species (2015–2016); grant no. PP00P3_144870; Swiss National Science Foundation – contributor.
- Sex chromosome evolution (2016); grant no. CRSII3_147625; Swiss National Science Foundation – contributor.
- Evolution and past range dynamics of the terrestrial Antarctic biota: insights from next-generation phylogeography of endemic mosses (2016–2019); grant no. 2015/17/B/NZ8/02475; National Science Centre (NCN) – contributor.
- The longest butterfly migration: monitoring and conservation of the Painted Lady butterfly breeding sanctuaries in tropical Africa (2018–2020); grant no. WW1-300R-18; National Geographic Society – contributor.
- EARLYRIDERS: Tracking the temporal and geographic origins of the domestic horses (2018–2020); grant no. 797449; European Union Horizon 2020 Framework Programme; Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Individual Fellowship – contributor (fellow).
- Genetic structure of riparian forests plant populations in river networks (2020–2024); grant no. 2019/35/B/NZ8/01901 (in consortium with the University of Agriculture in Kraków); National Science Centre (NCN) Narodowe Centrum Nauki – co-leader.
- PIONEER: Palaeogenomics of Central European refugia: spatio-temporal dynamics of arctic-alpine flora at the interplay of northern and temperate latitudes (2021–2025); grant no. 2020/37/B/NZ8/03307; National Science Centre (NCN) – contributor.
Recent publications (selected)
Gorki J.L., López-Mañas R., Sáez L., Menchetti M., Shapoval N., Andersen A., Benyamini D., Daniels S., Garcia-Berro A., Reich M.S., Scalercio S., Toro-Delgado E., Bataille C.P., Domingo-Marimon C., Vila R., Suchan T., Talavera G. 2024. Pollen metabarcoding reveals the origin and multigenerational migratory pathway of an intercontinental-scale butterfly outbreak. Current Biology 34: P2684–2692.E6. DOI
Gorki J.L., Suchan T., Talavera G. 2024. Protocol to sequence markers from pollen grains carried by long-range migratory butterflies using metabarcoding. STAR Protocols 5: 103012. DOI
Suchan T., Bataille C.P., Reich M.S., Toro-Delgado E., Vila R., Pierce N.E., Talavera G. 2024. A trans-oceanic flight of over 4,200 km by painted lady butterflies. Nature Communications 15: 5205. DOI
Ambu J., Martínez-Solano Í., Suchan T., Hernandez A., Wielstra B., Crochet P.-A., Dufresnes C. 2023. Genomic phylogeography illuminates deep cyto-nuclear discordances in midwife toads (Alytes). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 183: 107783. DOI
Janik P., Malicki M., Ronikier A., Suchan T. 2023. Nowe stanowisko Clathrus archeri (Phallaceae, Agaricomycetes) w Karkonoskim Parku Narodowym. Fragmenta Floristica et Geobotanica Polonica 28: 188–191. DOI
Talavera G., García-Berro A., Talla V.N.K., Ng’iru I., Bahleman F., Kébé K., Nzala K.M., Plasencia D., Marafi M.A.J., Kassie A., Goudégnon E.O.A., Kiki M., Benyamini D., Reich M.S., López-Mañas R., Benetello F., Collins S.C., Bataille C.P., Pierce N.E., Martins D.J., Suchan T., Menchetti M., Vila R. 2023. The Afrotropical breeding grounds of the Palearctic-African migratory painted lady butterflies (Vanessa cardui). PNAS 120: e2218280120. DOI
Suchan T., Chauvey L., Poullet M., Tonasso-Calvière L., Schiavinato S., Clavel P., Clavel B., Lepetz S., Seguin-Orlando A., Orlando L. 2022. Assessing the impact of USER-treatment on hyRAD capture applied to ancient DNA. Molecular Ecology Resources 22: 2262–2274. DOI
Dufresnes C., Brelsford A., Jeffries D.L., Mazepa G., Suchan T., Canestrelli D., Nicieza A., Fumagalli L., Dubey S., Martínez-Solano I., Litvinchuk S.N., Vences M., Perrin N., Crochet P.-A. 2021. Mass of genes rather than master genes underlie the genomic architecture of amphibian speciation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 118: e2103963118. DOI
Dufresnes C., Suchan T., Smirnov N.A., Denoël M., Rosanov J.M., Litvinchuk S.N. 2021. Revisiting a speciation classic: Comparative analyses support sharp but leaky transitions between Bombina toads. Journal of Biogeography 48: 458–560. DOI
Foremnik K., Krawczyk W., Surmacz B., Malicki M., Suchan T., Gazda A., Pielech R. 2021. Effects of forest stand structure on population of endangered orchid species Cypripedium calceolus L. Journal for Nature Conservation 64: 126089. DOI
Librado P., Khan N., Fages A., Kusliy M.A., Suchan T., Tonasso-Calvière L., Schiavinato S., Alioglu D., Fromentier A., Perdereau A., Aury J.-M., Gaunitz C., Chauvey L., Seguin-Orlando A., Der Sarkissian C., Southon J., Shapiro B., Tishkin A.A., Kovalev A.A., Alquraishi S., Alfarhan A.H., Al-Rasheid K.A.S., Seregély T., Klassen L., Iversen R., Bignon-Lau O., Bodu P., Olive M., Castel J.-C., Boudadi-Maligne M., Alvarez N., Germonpré M., Moskal-del Hoyo M., Wilczyński J., Pospuła S., Lasota-Kuś A., Tunia K., Nowak M., Rannamäe E., Saarma U., Boeskorov G., Lōugas L., Kyselý R., Peške L., Bălășescu A., Dumitrașcu V., Dobrescu R., Gerber D., Kiss V., Szécsényi-Nagy A., Mende B.G., Gallina Z., Somogyi K., Kulcsár G., Gál E., Bendrey R., Allentoft M.E., Sirbu G., Dergachev V., Shephard H., Tomadini N., Grouard S., Kasparov A., Basilyan A.E., Anisimov M.A., Nikolskiy P.A., Pavlova E.Y., Pitulko V., Brem G., Wallner B., Schwall C., Keller M., Kitagawa K., Bessudnov A.N., Bessudnov A., Taylor W., Magail J., Gantulga J.-O., Bayarsaikhan J., Erdenebaatar D., Tabaldiev K., Mijiddorj E., Boldgiv B., Tsagaan T., Pruvost M., Olsen S., Makarewicz C.A., Valenzuela Lamas S., Albizuri Canadell S., Nieto Espinet A., Iborra M.P., Lira Garrido J., Rodríguez González E., Celestino S., Olària C., Arsuaga J.L., Kotova N., Pryor A., Crabtree P., Zhumatayev R., Toleubaev A., Morgunova N.L., Kuznetsova T., Lordkipanize D., Marzullo M., Prato O., Bagnasco Gianni G., Tecchiati U., Clavel B., Lepetz S., Davoudi H., Mashkour M., Berezina N.Ya., Stockhammer P.W., Krause J., Haak W., Morales-Muñiz A., Benecke N., Hofreiter M., Ludwig A., Graphodatsky A.S., Peters J., Kiryushin K.Yu., Iderkhangai T.-O., Bokovenko N.A., Vasiliev S.K., Seregin N.N., Chugunov K.V., Plasteeva N.A., Baryshnikov G.F., Petrova E., Sablin M., Ananyevskaya E., Logvin A., Shevnina I., Logvin V., Kalieva S., Loman V., Kukushkin I., Merz I., Merz V., Sakenov S., Varfolomeyev V., Usmanova E., Zaibert V., Arbuckle B., Belinskiy A.B., Kalmykov A., Reinhold S., Hansen S., Yudin A.I., Vybornov A.A., Epimakhov A., Berezina N.S., Roslyakova N., Kosintsev P.A., Kuznetsov P.F., Anthony D., Kroonen G.J., Kristiansen K., Wincker P., Outram A., Orlando L. 2021. The origins and spread of domestic horses from the Western Eurasian steppes. Nature 598: 634–640. DOI
Gauthier J., Mouden C., Suchan T., Alvarez N., Arrigo N., Riou C., Lemaitre C., Peterlongo P. 2020. DiscoSnp-RAD: de novo detection of small variants for RAD-Seq population genomics. PeerJ 8: e9291. DOI
Crates R., Olah G., Adamski M., Aitken N., Banks S., Ingwersen D., Ranjard L., Rayner L., Stojanovic D., Suchan T., von Takach Dukai B., Heinsohn R. 2019. Genomic impact of severe population decline in a nomadic songbird. PLoS ONE 14: e0223953. DOI
Malicki M., Pusz W., Ronikier M., Suchan T. 2019. Population characteristics, habitat and conservation status of Rhododendron ferrugineum L. (Ericaceae), a glacial relict new to Poland. Acta Societatis Botanicorum Poloniae 88: 3634. DOI
Pusz W., Malicki M., Patejuk K., Ronikier M., Suchan T. 2019. First record of Exobasidium rhododendri (Fuckel) C. E. Cramer in Poland. Acta Societatis Botanicorum Poloniae 88: 3632. DOI
Suchan T., Malicki M., Ronikier M. 2019. Relict populations and Central European glacial refugia: The case of Rhododendron ferrugineum (Ericaceae). Journal of Biogeography 46: 392–404. DOI
Suchan T., Talavera G., Sáez L., Ronikier M., Vila R. 2019. Pollen metabarcoding as a tool for tracking long-distance insect migrations. Molecular Ecology Resources 19: 149–162. DOI
Tkach N., Röser M., Suchan T., Cieślak E., Schönswetter P., Ronikier M. 2019. Contrasting evolutionary origins of two mountain endemics: Saxifraga wahlenbergii (Western Carpathians) and S. styriaca (Eastern Alps). BMC Evolutionary Biology 19: 18. DOI
Wierzgoń M., Suchan T., Ronikier M. 2018. Two additions to the moss flora of the South Shetland Islands in the maritime Antarctic. Acta Societatis Botanicorum Poloniae 87: 3598. DOI
Gueuning M., Suchan T., Rutschmann S., Gattolliat J.-L., Jamsari J., Kamil A.I., Pitteloud C., Buerki S., Balke M., Sartori M., Alvarez N. 2017. Elevation in the tropical sky islands as the common driver in structuring genes and communities of freshwater organisms. Scientific Reports 7: 16089. DOI
Koubínová D., Dincă V., Dapporto L., Vodă R., Suchan T., Vila R., Alvarez N. 2017. Genomics of extreme ecological specialists: multiple convergent evolution but no genetic divergence in ecotypes of Maculinea alcon butterflies. Scientific Reports 7: 13752. DOI
Pitteloud C., Arrigo N., Suchan T., Mastretta-Yanes A., Vila R., Dincă V., Hernández-Roldán J., Brockmann E., Chittaro Y., Kleckova I., Fumagalli L., Buerki S., Pellissier L., Alvarez N. 2017. Climatic niche evolution is faster in sympatric than allopatric lineages of the butterfly genus Pyrgus. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 284: 20170208. DOI
Schmid S., Genevest R., Gobet E., Suchan T., Sperisen C., Tinner W., Alvarez N. 2017. HyRAD-X, a versatile method combining exome capture and RAD sequencing to extract genomic information from ancient DNA. Methods in Ecology and Evolution 8: 1374-1388. DOI
Suchan T., Espíndola A., Rutschmann S., Emerson B.C., Gori K., Dessimoz C., Arrigo N., Ronikier M., Alvarez N. 2017. Assessing the potential of RAD-sequencing to resolve phylogenetic relationships within species radiations: The fly genus Chiastocheta (Diptera: Anthomyiidae) as a case study. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 114: 189–198. DOI
Suchan T., Pitteloud C., Gerasimova N.S., Kostikova A., Schmid S., Arrigo N., Pajkovic M., Ronikier M., Alvarez N. 2016. Hybridization capture using RAD probes (hyRAD), a new tool for performing genomic analyses on museum collection specimens. PLoS ONE 11: e0151651. DOI