Research

My research uses different tools from molecular genetics and bioinformatics to understand the evolution of plants in North and Central America. A long term project goal is to increase the knowledge about the ecological and climatic history of the Neotropical forests and how their plant populations have responded to climate change.

During my tenure as a Research Fellow from the National Council of Science and Technology (2014-2019), I created the fully functional Molecular Evolution Laboratory at the regional campus "Centro Universitario de la Costa Sur" of the University of Guadalajara, Mexico.  The laboratory is making an impact on the understanding on how Neotropical plants evolve.

PROJECTS

PLANT EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY AND PHYLOGEOGRAPHY 

Phylogeography of oaks

My most recently funded project by the National Council of Science and Technology (Mexico) is examining different hypotheses of plant demographic change in relation to the Quaternary geological events. I am using the genome of white oaks from populations distributed in Mexico and Central America.

Phylogeography of sugar maples

This research consists on a multipronged approach to understand historical and contemporary factors that influence tree species range and genetic diversity. I examine the phylogeographic structure of sugar maple (Acer saccharum) and its related subspecies from tropical America. I utilize nuclear and chloroplast genome regions from several populations along the range and analyze them using bioinformatics' tools in connection with high performance computing. In addition, I assess the consequences of natural and human induced disturbances on the population abundance and genetic diversity of the relict maple subspecies that persists in the American tropics. This project was developed under the supervision of Willam J. Platt and Lowell E. Urbatsch at Louisiana State University. Plant systematicsI have been involved in a plant phylogeny project of the Cyperaceae and Asteraceae families (at Louisiana State University Herbarium), see publications section for the results.

    I am also developing functions in R to manage the data obtained using next-generation sequence technologies.

Molecular markers

Currently developing molecular markers for American basswods (Tilia spp.).

TROPICAL PLANT DIVERSITY

I generate and evaluate hypotheses related to species diversity and distribution. I studied tree abundance and natural regeneration of tropical dry forests from western Mexico in relation to small-scale environmental gradients. Using multivariate techniques, I found that the establishment of trees in the tropics with marked seasonality in rainfall is constrained by local site conditions such as soil nutrient concentration. On the other hand, growth and importance values of adult trees are affected by light conditions created by seasonal canopy openings. I also documented the effect of natural and anthropogenic disturbances, for instance, I found that non-catastrophic hurricanes affect population structure by favoring recruitment in some tree species (Acer spp.) from cloud forests (research supervised by William J. Platt).

       I also studied large-scale patterns of species richness in large datasets in collaboration with other researches. Gathering vegetation data from multiple sites in Mexico and Central America, representing tropical and temperate forests, we illustrated monotonic and unimodal patterns of species richness depending on the forest community type and the scale.

PLANT TAXONOMY AND FLORISTICS

I have done a number of projects related to floristic inventories and plant taxonomy. I consider these studies as the baseline for ecological or evolutionary research. As a result of my botanical explorations, I have described new fungus, plant species and discovered populations of relict and disjunct maple species.

    I also contributed to create a floristic inventory of three major regions of western Mexico. Two of them have been proposed as biosphere reserves. In addition, I conducted a biodiversity study to describe the most northwestern tropical rain forest relicts distributed along the Pacific coast on Mexico.

    I am currently preparing the taxonomic treatment of Sapindaceae (Acer) for the Mesoamerican Flora project and I am proposing new taxonomic statuses for Mexican maple species.

CONSERVATION

My career as a conservationist, supported by research products and work with environment ministers in Mexico, and with international organizations.

            My work with social leaders and state and federal ministers has been focused on the establishment and management of protected areas in western Mexico. I generated a natural area proposal and management plan with strong support from

CONSERVATION OF ACER (MAPLES)

I am  a member of the Steering Committee of the Global Conservation Consortium of Acer. I am currently working on species conservation assessments and gap analyses. 

THE MAPLE SOCIETY NEWSLETTER

EDITOR

I am an Editor of The Maple Society Newsletter beginning the Fall 2022. Contact me if you would like to publish an article on maples.

If you are interested in join The Maple Society, please visit the Society's webpage. If you are based on North America, see the branch's website.

EX SITU CONSERVATION

THE BOTANICAL GARDEN PROJECT

The new botanical garden of the University of Guadalajara, along with its herbarium began on 2021. The project is funded by the Mexican Nacional Council of Science and Technology. I am the Principal Investigator. Contact me if you are interested on a postdoc position (ethnobotany).