Research
Melastomataceae Phylogenetics and Biology
I am generally most interested in the systematics, natural history, and evolution of angiosperms. Melastomataceae, with nearly 6000 species, are one of the ten largest families of plants, forming prevalent components of many tropical biodiversity hotspots. They serve as a major food source for bees and seed dispersers such as birds and mammals, and play a critical successional role in the regeneration of disturbed forests. Through a combination of field work in targeted regions, molecular phylogenetic techniques, detailed morphological and anatomical observations, and scanning electron microscopy, along with a large network of colleagues, I aim to improve the classification of Melastomataceae. Through this work, I am also developing means to easily identify their major groupings (genera and tribes), track how diagnostic characters in the family have evolved, test ideas on how pollination systems have evolved in tropical ecosystems, evaluate models of ancient climate change, and provide new data to inform and direct conservation priorities. A global, multi-locus, molecular phylogenetic analysis serves as a foundation for a revised familial classification (see cladogram below, from Penneys et al. 2022), and is also instrumental in associated ongoing investigations, and some of those were published in a compendium: Melastomataceae: Global Diversity, Distribution, and Endemism. A monograph of Pyxidantheae (Blakea, Chalybea), a melastome tribe with over 200 species, is in progress, as are numerous other projects.
Flora of the Philippines
The Philippines archipelago, comprising over 7600 islands, is known to contain high levels of unique plant and animal diversity but several areas, especially the Visayas and Mindanao Islands, still need to be intensively sampled. Many plant and lichen species await initial discovery and description even as extensive areas are threatened by deforestation. This investigation is documenting and describing land plant and lichen diversity in the southern Philippines through a series of large field expeditions followed by taxonomic study and formal description. The project team is documenting the occurrence and abundance of diverse plant and lichen species through a combination of physical museum collections and high-resolution photographs. The project is also developing a DNA repository of all collections made during the field expeditions for future genealogical studies. Project data will be used to assemble species inventories in different areas of the southern Philippines to both identify biodiversity hotspots and prioritize land management decisions. This NSF-funded work is led by myself and PI's Peter Fritsch, Manuela Dal Forno, Dan Nickrent, Victor Amoroso, Fulgent Coritico the latter two at the Central Mindanao University (CMU) and the Center for Biodiversity Research and Extension in Mindanao (CEBREM), and many other associated specialists.