Ferns and Flowering Plants (Pteridophyta and Phanerogamae)
I am interested in plant systematics, biogeography (especially the Eritreo-Arabian region, the Mediterranean and Macaronesia) and floristics. My main taxonomic expertise is in Gentianaceae, Pulmonaria (Boraginaceae). I mainly participate in QT 2 and QT3.
Laurisilva or laurel forests are found on several Macaronesian islands including Madeira, the Azores and the Canary Islands. This vegetation type is thought to represent a relict of a vegetation type which originally covered much of the Mediterranean Basin when the climate of the region was more humid. Using molecular phylogenies of several laurel forest genera based on DNA sequence variation and/or DNA fingerprints our aim is to address the following questions: When did laurisilva taxa evolve, where did they come from and what are the inner-islands relationships?
Cooperation partners: Santos, A., Reyes, A., ICIA Tenerife, Koch, M., Uni Heidelberg, Fernández- Palacios, J.-M., Uni La Laguna, M. Sequeira, Uni Funchal.
Several recent molecular phylogenetic studies have focused on the biogeography of oceanic islands. This project aims the analysisof biogeographic patterns among the flora of Socotra. This islandis located in the Indian Ocean 250 km E of the Horn of Africa. Until the late Cretaceous, it likely was connected to the Gondwananmainland. Socotra harbours some 900 species of vascular plants, ofwhich 30% are endemic. Hitherto, Socotran taxa were purported to have biogeographic relationships to Africa, Arabia, Asia or theCanary Islands. These hypotheses were primarily based onmorphological data. Problems addressed in this project include the question of whether present-day Socotran plants represent Gondwananrelicts and if their occurrence on Socotra is due to vicariance or,alternatively, to long distance dispersal. The overall goal of thisproject is to reconstruct the origin of Socotran flora and thebiogeographic history of the Arabic-Socotran-East African region. Therefore, the molecular phylogenies of seven Socotran genera are reconstructed and will be compared.
Cooperation partners: Forrest, A., RBGE, Edinburgh, Peter Linder, Zurich
The project of floristic mapping of Baden-Württemberg has been a main task of the Botany department since 1970. A first survey was completed with the publication of „Die Farn- und Blütenpflanzen Baden-Württembergs“ from 1990 to 1998. Since February 2008 a second survey of the entire state of Baden-Württemberg is under work. Modern techniques like GPS or GIS enable us to collect and document the data more precisely and efficiently. The data are stored in the RECORDER data base system, which has been developed in the UK and was afterwards adapted by the Bundesamt für Naturschutz (BfN). The data base currently houses ca. 2.5 million data sets. This large number is the basis for a comparison of the recent flora with the flora prior to 1990. About 150 citizen scientists are working for this floristic mapping project. They collect data which are then processed by the Botany Department of the Natural History Museum Stuttgart. The results are accessible under www.flora.naturkundemuseum-bw.de.
Analysis of floristic changes Baden-Württemberg: A preliminary comparison of the first (1970-1998) and second survey (since 2008) detected a decrease of rare endangered Red-list species and an increase of neophytes. The analysis of ecological parameters based on indicator values by Ellenberg showed a clear increase of nitrophilous species, while climate change had a minor effect on the changes of the flora.
Cooperation and funding partners are the Ministerium für Umwelt, Klima und Energiewirtschaft Baden-Württemberg and the Landesanstalt für Umwelt und Messungen Baden-Württemberg.
Funded by the Stiftung Naturschutzfonds Baden-Württemberg, the potential causes of decline of lycopods in SW Germany are investigated. The populations of all 10 native species of Lycopodiaceae have been significantly declined in the last decades. The underlying causes for this decline are not yet compeltely understood. Obviously suitable habitats lost their lycopod populations. Based on three ecologically relevant groups, Diphasiastrum complanatum agg./D. alpinum, Huperzia selago and Lycopodiella inundata several parameters are analysed for conservation purposes.
Project participants: Cornelia Krause