ID: 613 / 132

Category: Symposia

Track: Pending

Proposed Symposium Title: THE PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE OF PALMS (ARECACEAE)

Abstract: To understand the current biodiversity crisis, it is crucial to understand not only how the past has driven current patterns, but also how they may change in the future. In this symposium, we will hear about biogeographical patterns and processes that have shaped palms over geological timescales. We will also learn about the development of a species-level phylogeny of all palms, which will provide a framework for understanding the current diversity of the family. Looking into the future, we will hear about macroecological patterns and the taxonomic and trait diversity that are expected to shift in the face of current and future environmental change. The scope of the three presentations are at the family level, and therefore major results and resulting conclusions are likely representative of tropical plants at large. The objective of this symposium is to not only highlight the diversity of people active in palm research, but also to convey new understanding as to how biogeographical processes have led to current diversity and which climate change factors may affect particular morphological traits and certain clades in the future.

Speaker 1: Sidonie Bellot Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, England S.Bellot@kew.org Extinction risk and genomic response to climate change in palms

Speaker 2: Paola Lima University of Aarhus, Denmark paolaferreira@alumni.usp.br Developing the species level tree of palms, with emerging biogeographic implications

Speaker 3: Cibele Silva University of Campinas, Brazil cibelecassia01@gmail.com Palm trait distribution variation in response to environmental change

Topics (Up to three): Systematics

Topic 2: Global Change Ecology

Topic 3: Biogeography / Phylogeography

Justification: This symposium proposal intersects numerous proposed topics, including biogeography, conservation biology, global change ecology, macroevolution, and systematics and taxonomy within the three speakers listed above. Potential audience interest will be high due to the importance and diversity of palm species and the strong and united research community that surrounds it. A high scientific quality of the proposed, as well as the elective, presentations is expected. The three speakers have agreed to present, representing different geographic areas and gender, and all three are at an early career stage, suggesting an enriching opportunity for all.