Lars Nauheimer

Address

Molekulare Evolution und Systematik der Pflanzen
Institut für Biologie
Fakultät für Biowissenschaften, Pharmazie und Psychologie
Universität Leipzig
Germany

Documents

Curriculum Vitae

Ph.D. Thesis
Biogeography of the Araceae family and evolution of the Asian genus Alocasia

Alocasia (Araceae) comprises c. 100 species distributed from Sri Lanka to subtropical Australia. Most species are lowland forest understorey herbs, although a few grow on exposed sites or at elevations above 1000 m. Alocasia is most diverse on Borneo (c. 40 species), the Philippines (c. 18), and New Guinea (c. 12). Based on fossils, the larger clade to which Alocasia belongs originated in Eocene Laurasia, and a new molecular tree and molecular-dating (using data reported in this proposal) set up the hypothesis that Alocasia entered the Malesian region from the North and diversified mainly from the Miocene onwards, when warm-moist climates led to an expansion of rain forests. We will test this hypothesis with complete species sampling. For a subset of species, I will carry out climate niche modeling using MaxEnt based on present/absent data from field work in Sarawak and presence-only data from herbarium surveys in Indonesia and Malaysia (a pilot analysis has been done). Niche preferences of species pairs will be placed in the context of the dated larger phylogeny so that direction and timing of change can be inferred. This will permit assessing the relative roles of changing or conserved climate preferences in the diversification of the genus Alocasia.

Alocasia lowii		Alocasia princeps
Alocasia reversa		Alocasia scabriuscula

Publications

Nauheimer L., Metzler D., Renner S.S.:
Global history of the ancient monocot family Araceae inferred with models accounting for past continental positions and previous ranges based on fossils. (submitted 9 Jan. 2012).

Nauheimer L., Boyce P.C., Renner S.S. (2012):
Giant taro and its relatives: A phylogeny of the large genus Alocasia (Araceae) sheds light on Miocene floristic exchange in the Malesian region. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution (accepted).

Wester S., Mendieta-Leiva G., Nauheimer L., Wanek W., Kreft H., Zotz G. (2011):
Physiological diversity and biogeography of vascular epiphytes at Río Changuinola, Panama. Flora 206: 66 – 79.

Laube S., Nauheimer L., Mendieta-Leiva G.
Epiphytes of the Rio Changuinola Valley, Panama. Rapid Color Guide (www.fieldmuseum.org).

Oral presentation

Nauheimer L., Cusimano N., Chartier M., Bogner J., Renner S.S.
The family Araceae in space and time. 18^th International Botanical Congress in Melbourne, Australia.

Nauheimer L., Boyce P.C., Renner S.S.
Reconstructing the biogeography of the 100 species of a Miocene Asian/Australian clade. Biosystematics 2011 conference in Berlin, Germany.

Nauheimer L., Boyce P.C., Renner S.S.
Biogeography of Alocasia (Araceae): Colonization of the Malay Archipelago. 2010 ATBC conference in Bali, Indonesia; abstracts (online). (Second best student presentation).

Nauheimer L., Boyce P.C., Bogner J., Renner S.S.
The evolution and biogeography of Alocasia, Colocasia, and related genera. 8^th Flora Malesiana Symposium, Singapore.

Poster presentations

Nauheimer L., Boyce P.C., Renner S.S. (2010):
Biogeography of Alocasia (Araceae): colonization of the Malay Archipelago. 2^nd status symposium in Evolutionary Biology, 9 – 12 May 2010, Fraueninsel, Germany, Abstracts, p. 69

Nauheimer L., Boyce P.C., Renner S.S. (2009)
Phylogeny and biogeography of Alocasia (Araceae), and a DNA-based identification service. Poster at the 10^th Aroid Conference, July 2009, Nancy, France

Nauheimer L., Homeier J. (2007):
Tree regeneration in canopy gaps in a montane rainforest in southern Ecuador. Poster at the GTÖ-Conference, February 2007, Bonn, Germany

Last update: 2012-04-10