Biogeographic history of plant communities (B01)

• Subject Area: Evolution and Systematics of Plants and Fungi
• Term: since 2016
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 268236062

B01 concentrates on spatial patterns of phytodiversity, biogeographic history and evolution of the Atacama and Namib Desert flora (selected lineages). The focus lies on spatio-temporal gene-flow between and within plant populations in the Atacama and the Namib Desert. While population genetic analyses for selected species in the in the Namib Desert flora address spatio-temporal connectivity and limitations on gene-flow (global & local), the analyses in the Atacama Desert are based on a more local scale, as preliminary data shows e.g. that vegetation growth and vegetation patterning of Tillandsia lomas at its dry limits in the Atacama Desert displays fine-scale response to various environmental parameters.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1211: Earth - Evolution at the Dry Limit
• Applicant Institution: Universität zu Köln
• Co-Applicant Institution: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn; Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg
• Project Heads: Professor Dr. Marcus Koch, since 7/2020; Professor Dr. Federico Luebert, until 6/2020; Professor Dr. Dietmar Quandt; Professor Dr. Maximilian Weigend, until 6/2020