The evolution of ultra-diffuse galaxies in nearby galaxy clusters from
  the Kapteyn IAC WEAVE INT Clusters Survey ($\texttt{KIWICS}$)
  We study the population of ultra-diffuse galaxies (UDGs) in a set of eight
nearby ($z <$ 0.035) galaxy clusters, from the Kapteyn IAC WEAVE INT Clusters
Survey ($\texttt{KIWICS}$). We report the discovery of 442 UDG candidates in
our eight field of views, with 247 of these galaxies lying at projected
distances < 1 R$_{200}$ from their host cluster. With the aim of testing
theories about their formation, we study the scaling relations of UDGs
comparing with different types of galaxies, finding that in the full parameter
space they behave as dwarf galaxies and their colors do not seem to correlate
with their effective radii. To investigate the influence of the environment on
the evolution of UDGs we analyze their structural properties as functions of
the projected clustercentric distance and the mass of their host cluster. We
find no systematic trends for the stellar mass nor effective radius as function
of the projected distance. However, the fraction of blue UDGs seems to be lower
towards the center of clusters, and UDGs in the inner and outer regions of
clusters have different S\'ersic index and axis ratio distributions.
Specifically, the axis ratio distributions of the outer and inner UDGs resemble
the axis ratio distributions of, respectively, late-type dwarfs and dwarf
ellipticals in the Fornax Cluster suggesting an environmentally-driven
evolution and another link between UDGs and dwarf galaxies. In general our
results suggest strong similarities between UDGs and smaller dwarf galaxies in
their structural parameters and their transformation within clusters.
