Torrey Botanical Society Annual
Lecture Series

Fall 2007 and Spring 2008

Lectures will be presented at the Arthur and Janet Ross Lecture Hall,
New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, NY 10458

* Lectures are free and open to the public *

Using geographic information systems to understand past, present, and future impacts of humans on biodiversity

Tuesday, October 2, 2007, 6:30 PM

Presented by Jason Knouft, Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, Saint Louis University

Geographic information systems (GIS) provide the ability to organize, manipulate, and analyze geographically referenced data in a spatially explicit manner.  During the past decade, the application of GIS to the study of ecological and evolutionary patterns and processes has expanded dramatically and served as a valuable resource for analyzing large amounts of spatial data at multiple scales.  The influence of humans on biodiversity has been well documented in local systems with field based research; however, GIS applications allow for the examination of human impacts at multiple scales and are particularly valuable for assessments with a regional focus.  I will discuss the application of GIS techniques to the study of historical, contemporary, and potential future human influences on biodiversity.  The historical example will focus on the influence of human selection during domestication on the niche characteristics of Spondias purpurea, a Mesoamerican fruit tree.  The contemporary example will focus on using GIS techniques to better understand the potential influence of habitat modification on freshwater fishes.  The future example will focus on predicting the potential effects of climate change on Caribbean island species distributions using Anolis lizards as a study group.  While each example is taxonomically unique, the overarching theme will be an overview of the technological and data resources that are being developed to better understand the processing regulating biodiversity across the Earth.

Diversification of the Dipsacales - Honeysuckles and Relatives

Wednesday, November 7, 2007, 6:30 PM

Presented by Michael Donoghue, Director of the Peabody Museum of Natural History and G. Evelyn Hutchinson Professor, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University

The Dispacales, with over 1000 species, probably originated in the Old World “tropics” during the Cretaceous, but radiated into its mainly northern temperate range in the Tertiary. Much of the present species diversity may have originated since the Eocene, and there have been several recent radiations, especially of the Valerianaceae at high elevations in the Andes and of Dipsacaceae into drier areas around the Mediterranean. The group split early on into two major lineages – the Adoxaceae (including Viburnum, Sambucus, and Adoxa), and the Caprifoliaceae (including traditional members of this “family,” such as Diervilla, Lonicera, and Linnaea, but now also the Morinaceae, Valerianaceae, and Dipsacaceae). The first Dispacales were probably woody plants with simple leaves – the herbaceous habit and compound leaves evolved later, independently within Adoxaceae and Capridoliaceae. Adoxaceae may have retained small, rotate, radial flowers, whereas Caprifoliaceae evolved larger, tubular, bilateral flowers. The ancestral fruit type remains uncertain, but it appears that achene fruits evolved within the group, and that within the achene-bearing Caprifoliaceae there were a variety of experiments involving the modification of bracts subtending the flowers. The most extreme manifestation is the epicalyx found in Morinaceae and Dipsacaceae. In Dipsacaceae this novel floral structure has been highly modified for dispersal by wind and ants. Elsewhere, fleshy fruits of several types evolved, including single-seeded drupes in Viburnum. This might have spurred the initial radiation of Viburnum, but much species diversity appears to have arisen recently, especially correlated with movement into the mountains of Latin America.

Testing the Telome Theory: a developmental modeling approach to examine the macroevolutionary changes in early vascular plants

Monday, December 3, 2007, 6:30 PM

Presented by James Boyer, Associate Director for Teacher Professional Development, The New York Botanical Garden

The study of developmental mechanisms in fossil plant taxa was first noted by Zimmermann in the Telome Theory [Zimmermann 1938, 1952, 1959]. The Telome Theory provides several viable mechanisms of morphological change in the Silurian-Devonian fossil record, but these ideas remain untested. In order to test Zimmermann's ideas, a modeling technique has been employed to ascertain developmental information from the fossil record. Using comparative methods from living taxa and morphometric data from fossil taxa, the model simulates the growth and development of the earliest land plants. The algorithm's "if-then" statements act as developmental "rules" that constrain the ontogeny of the virtual organism. One goal of the model is to manipulate the "rhyniophyte" algorithm to produce the morphology of an immediately derived taxon (e.g. trimerophytes). These alterations represent possible macroevolutionary changes that occurred in the ancestral development to produce the descendant morphology. Thus, the structures exhibited by both the ancestor and descendant taxa share a similar developmental mechanism and are homologous. The strength of the model lies in the ability to test the validity of the Telome Theory and propose a quantifiable process of change that occurred between ancestor-descendant groups.

The Orchids of Peru

Sunday, March 2, 2008, 1:00 PM (Annual Banquet)

Presented by Eric Christenson, author and orchidologist, contributor to the Andes to Amazon Biodiversity Program

Dr. Christenson will discuss the magnificent Andean country of Peru and its rich orchid diversity currently recorded as more than 3500 species. He will focus on the orchids of southern Peru and the Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu. Special notice will be made of Phragmipedium, the country's only CITES Appendix I genus of orchids, and how ecological observations can translate to horticulture and successful ex situ conservation. Finally, he will discuss ongoing research efforts (www.andesamazon.org).

Notes on the Natural History and Evolution of the Cape Flora, South Africa

Tuesday, April 1, 2008, 6:30 PM

Presented by Christopher Hardy, Assistant Professor and Keeper of the Herbarium, Biology Department, Millersville University

The Cape Floristic Region of southern Africa is a rather small yet remarkably rich hotspot of plant diversity. I will introduce the major elements of the biota and climate of the Cape region and then test the "Recent-Origin, Miocene-Trigger" hypothesis for the evolutionary origin of this unusually rich flora. The latter will emphasize my phylogenetic systematics studies of the African Restionaceae or "restios."

Tropical Meliaceae (mahogany family): uses, threats, conservation issues, and the role of tropical field stations in scientific biodiversity research

Wednesday, May 7, 2008. 6:30 PM

Presented by Alexandra Muellner, Research Scientist and Lab Manager, Grunelius-Moellgaard Laboratory, and Lecturer, Goethe University, Germany

Pantropical Meliaceae have overwhelming economic and scientific-medicinal importance in the USA, Asia, and Europe, and one quarter of their species are classed as “threatened” in the IUCN Red List and are key target taxa in campaigns of international conservation groups. Taxonomic boundaries at and above species level throughout the family are, however, still largely unclear. The timbers of certain Meliaceae are some of the most sought after in the world. Meliaceae are also sources of biologically active compounds that have aroused considerable commercial interest due to their insecticidal, antifungal, bactericidal, antiviral and cytotoxic activities as well as numerous medicinal effects (e.g. cancer and AIDS research). The talk will present an overview of the current status of uses, threats and conservational issues of Meliaceae in general, and of Aglaia (Southeast Asia, Australia and Pacific islands) and Cedrela (Central and South America) in detail. It will also demonstrate the importance of tropical field stations in biodiversity research, at the example of the Kuala Belalong Field Studies Centre in Brunei (Borneo). The forests of Brunei are among the richest in the world and represent the greatest living natural resource of the country. About 80% of Brunei is under forest cover, the majority of which is undisturbed primary forest. The Kuala Belalong Field Studies Centre was built in 1990 and served as a logistic base for the Brunei Rainforest Project 1991-1992, a collaborative effort between the University of Brunei Darussalam and the Royal Geographical Society as well as a number of associated institutions in the UK and other nations. Geographical and biological disciplines were brought together to describe climate, regional geology, landform processes and soils and the complexity of tropical rainforest biodiversity and ecology. This has set the course for continuing research, undergraduate training and school visits from all over the world.

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