ID: 613 / 28

Category: Symposia

Track: Pending

Proposed Symposium Title: CONTRASTING DIVERSITY PATTERNS, BIOGEOGRAPHY, AND CONSERVATION ISSUES IN NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN HEATHERS (ERICEAE, ERICACEAE)

Abstract: Heathers (Ericeae; Ericaceae) are widespread and often dominant in different natural and man-shaped landscapes in Europe and the Mediterranean, across highlands of the African continent and Madagascar, and in the Cape Floristic Region (CFR) of South Africa. However, species richness, phylogenetic diversity, and threat status differ dramatically between these regions. The just three species of Daboecia and Calluna are restricted to the Northern Hemisphere along with 23 species of Erica. These lineages are more than twice the age yet, paradoxically, vastly outnumbered by 700 CFR endemics. Many Cape species have narrow distributions and are threatened with extinction in the wild, whilst northern heathers are highly pertinent to population- and landscape-level conservation concerns in Europe. Disparities in diversification rates, geographic distribution ranges, isolation, human uses and conservation concerns, make heathers an attractive and important group to evaluate the use of different tools to better understand and conserve biological diversity and evolutionary history. This symposium aims to bring together researchers focussed on both Northern and Southern Hemisphere heather diversity, on species- and population-level patterns, on geological and human timescales, and on the implications for conservation priorities in the current biodiversity crisis. Conclusions may help in describing the history of migrations and diversification in this archetypal group, and provide evidence to inform management for conservation.

Speaker 1: Jaime Fagúndez University of A Coruña jaime.fagundez@udc.es Phylogeography, isolation and hybridisation in the Erica ciliaris-tetralix clade

Speaker 2: Michael D. Pirie University of Bergen michael.pirie@uib.no Phyogenetic diversity and conservation prioritisation of threatened Erica species

Speaker 3: Fernando Ojeda University of Cádiz fernando.ojeda@uca.es Estimating flavonoid content in seedlings to understand the evolution of flower colour dimorphism in Erica coccinea

Topics (Up to three): Biogeography / Phylogeography

Topic 2: Phylogenetics and Phylogenomics

Topic 3: Conservation Biology

Justification: The symposium is focussed in the taxonomic scope and phylogenetics of the wide group of heathers, and the biogeographic patterns that shapes its geographic distribution at several scales. Implications for conservation of threatened species and populations are addressed.