Natural History of Tropical Plants

J.E. Richardson

Universidad del Rosario

Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Matematicas

Historia Natural de Plantas Tropicales

Describing plant diversity

Determine why Colombia 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

Herrania kanukuensisGlossostemon bruguieriGuazuma ulmifolia

Theobroma grandiflorum

Theobroma cacaoTheobroma cacao

Theobroma simiarum

Herrania purpureaTheobroma bicolor

Guazuma ulmifolia

Tribe Theobromeae - Malvaceae

Theobroma – 22 species, neotropics

Herrania – 20 species, neotropics

Guazuma – 2-5 species, neotropics

Glossostemon – one species, Saudi Arabia, Oman

The Age of Chocolate – 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 trees per hectare

Poor comprehensive crop management strategy

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

(Moniliophthora rorei)

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

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 cultivars

• 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 South America

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