Natural History of Tropical

J.E. Richardson Universidad del Rosario

Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Matematicas

Historia Natural de Plantas Tropicales

Describing diversity

Determine why is so diverse

Historical reconstructions in each of Colombia’s biomes

How have groups of species adapted to historical changes in geology and climate?

How might they adapt to future change?

Conservation

Tribe Theobromeae -

Theobroma cacao cacao Theobroma simiarum purpurea Herrania kanukuensis Glossostemon bruguieri ulmifolia

Theobroma – 22 species, neotropics Herrania – 20 species, neotropics Guazuma – 2-5 species, neotropics Glossostemon – one species, Saudi Arabia, Oman The Age of – a diversification history of Theobroma and Malvaceae Richardson, Whitlock, Meerow & Madriñán

Chocolate is c. 10 million years old

Fedecacao identify major problems

Advanced age of plantations

Lack of variety of cultivated material (low resistance to pests and diseases)

Low density of per hectare

Poor comprehensive crop management strategy

Witches Broom ( perniciosa) and frosty pod rot or moniliasis disease (Moniliophthora rorei)

A need to ensure long term sustainability from the risks posed by

Excessive cadmium accumulation Possible projects

1. Evolution of Theobroma and Herrania

• Phylogeny of all species • Determine optimal areas for plantations based on existing distributions and climatic envelopes that could be applied to future climate change scenarios

2. Develop molecular markers to screen for disease resistance and novel flavour profiles in existing and potentially new

• Search for markers in varieties that are resistant • Screen native populations for resistance • Screen for cadmium accumulation

3. The genetic architecture of drought resistance

• Compare expression of genes in Guazuma, Glossostemon, Herrania and Theobroma under natural conditions • Compare expression of genes under water stress conditions

4. Cacao economics Photos: Santiago Madriñán Páramo has fastest diversification rate Climate change and spatial distribution of vegetation in Colombia Juan Carlos Alarcón Hincapié & José Daniel Pabón Caicedo, Colombia Forestal 2013

Worst case scenario

Páramo gone by mid-century Water Towers of Most Recent Projects

Agrodiversity project advisor on a 6.5 million pound GCRF funded international consortium led by the Earlham Institute

Project partner (University of Exeter) - “BioResilience: Biodiversity resilience and ecosystem services in post-conflict socio-ecological systems in Colombia”

• evaluate drivers and factors affecting forest dynamics and resilience • deliver estimates of C fluxes associated with forest degradation and recovery • manage and improve the provision of ecosystem services • plan REDD+ activities and inform climate and conservation policy

Project partner (University of York) - “Integrating ecological and cultural histories to inform sustainable and equitable futures for the Colombian páramos”

• examine the socio-ecological system of páramo habitat • determine the value of biodiversity in this system • predict response of páramo ecosystems to environmental change and anthropogenic pressures to inform the development of a sustainable and equitable future for the páramos, and for the communities dependent on these ecosystems

Principal Investigator on a British Council project to monitor and recensus an ecological plot network throughout Colombia – includes DNA barcoding component