Dimitar Stefanov Dimitrov

Dimitar Stefanov Dimitrov is a Professor at the Department of Natural History, University Museum of Bergen, University of Bergen. His research focuses on evolutionary biology with a background in arthropod systematics and evolution, particularly specializing in spiders, while also expanding to vascular plants and vertebrates. He teaches BIO332 Phylogenetic Methods and maintains active scholarly profiles on Google Scholar, ResearchGate, ORCID, and Web of Science.

Dr. Dimitrov's research program aims to understand how evolutionary and ecological processes generate and maintain biodiversity through time and space. He combines species evolutionary histories, contemporary distributional data, historical distributions, and environmental factors to investigate the mechanisms underlying life's distribution on Earth. His work specifically examines factors governing biodiversity patterns at different spatial scales and species responses to climate change. This integrative approach assembles multiple pieces of a complex puzzle from species description to understanding gene-environment interactions.

His recent publications (2023-2025) reveal a dual research focus: spider evolution/systematics and plant macroecology/macroevolution. In spider research, he investigates phylogenomics, diversification dynamics, adaptive radiations (particularly Hawaiian Tetragnatha), and orb-weaving spider evolution. In plant research, his work examines global angiosperm diversity patterns, floristic mapping, flowering plant evolution, and species richness-climate relationships. He has also developed bioinformatics tools like NCBIminer and PyNCBIminer for phylogenetic data assembly.

Dr. Dimitrov is actively involved in research projects within two broad fields: systematics, macroecology and macroevolution of spiders (with focus on orb weavers and pholcids), and macroecology and macroevolution of seed plants. He participates in the BiGTREE project, a HKdir funded NORPART training network connecting Norway, Colombia, and Peru. His international collaborations span institutions worldwide including Peking University, University of Copenhagen, and Harvard University, supporting his global biodiversity research.