Projects
Tree fernsTree
ferns, with their characteristic tree-like habit and large, compound
leaves, are a conspicuous component of tropical, subtropical, and south
temperate floras. Cyatheaceae, the scaly tree ferns, is the best known
of the tree fern families and it comprises most of the species
diversity of the group (some 500 of the approximately 600 species in
the group). Not all of the members of the tree fern clade are, however,
arborescent. There are also mediumsized species with creeping rhizomes
(e.g., Metaxyaceae and Loxomataceae), as well as diminutive species
with short rhizomes (Hymenophyllopsis in Cyatheaceae).
In this project I study the phylogeny and biogeography of tree ferns, mainly in collaboration with Dr. Kathleen
Pryer
(Duke University, North Carolina, USA), Dr. David Conant (Lyndon State
College, Vermont, USA), and Dr. Harald Schneider (Natural History
Museum, London, UK)(see a list of my publications here).
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Selaginellaceae
The lycopod family Selaginellaceae (Spikemosses) comprises
approximately 700 herbaceous species. They are distributed all over the
world, but most species diversity is found in the tropics and
subtropics. Lycopods, that is, Selaginellaceae together with Isoetaceae
(quillworts) and Lycopodiaceae (clubmosses) are the extant remnants of
a once diverse and dominant group, reaching its zenith in the Upper
Carboniferous some 300 million years ago.
My thesis focused on
the phylogeny of extant Selaginellaceae, and included analysis of
relationships within the family based on plastid and nuclear DNA
sequence data. I also did a study on the megaspore
morphology in Selaginellaceae in a phylogenetic context (see a list of my publications here). I was advised by Dr. Paul Kenrick at the Natural History Museum, London, UK. |
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