ID: 613 / 162

Category: Symposia

Track: Pending

Proposed Symposium Title: NEXT GENERATION ZINGIBERALES: FROM TAXONOMY TO EVOLUTION

Abstract: The order Zingiberales harbours over 2800 species important in most vegetation types pantropically, several of which are important as food, spice, medicine or as ornamentals. Most genera are distributed in SE Asia, which also harbours the highest genetic diversity of the order. Of the eight families in the order, especially in the most speciose families Zingiberaceae (> 1800 spp.), Marantaceae (> 600 spp.) and Costaceae (> 200 spp.), the use of molecular-based phylogenies have in recent years altered the classification significantly including the recircumscription of genera. In Zingiberaceae, one of the largest taxonomic challenges remaining is constituted by the polyphyletic genus Alpinia. This symposium will highlight some of the most recent important achievements and indicate possible solutions and dilemmas reaching a consensus of generic recircumscription and implications on our understanding of the ecology, evolution and adaptive potential of the order.

Speaker 1: Chelsea Dvorak Specht School of Integrative Plant Science College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell University, U.S.A. cdspecht@cornell.edu New insights from the family Costaceae.

Speaker 2: Eliska Záveská Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Botany, Pruhonice, Czech Republic zaveskae@email.cz Genome size in Zingiberaceae correlates with the life strategies, plant traits and habitat preferences.

Speaker 3: Vinita Gowda Department of Biological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Bhopal, India gowdav@iiserb.ac.in Understanding speciation from the ginger genus Hedychium and why species boundaries remain blurred.

Topics (Up to three): Systematics and taxonomy

Topic 2: Phylogenetics

Topic 3: Ecology

Justification: Zingiberales is an iconic pantropical plant group with many economically important species including spices (ginger, cardamom, turmeric), fruits (bananas) and medicinal plants. The species play an important role in multiple vegetation types, many also used in horticulture and urban plantings across the tropics. Some species of Hedychium are amongst the top-most 100 invasive. The speakers who have committed to this symposium are from diverse regions, and with varied topics. We believe that this session will attract a wide audience, as it bridges several topics, and taxonomic decisions in this group are of universal interest due to their utilitarian values.