Tropical plant diversity, biogeography and conservation: a multi-biome approach
This will be a hybrid event with the option to attend in person or join online. If joining online, click on "View online event" in your booking confirmation email for the Zoom link and passcode.
OCTF seminar followed by Q&A and drinks – all welcome. Join in person or online via Zoom

When addressing what is special about species diversity in the tropics, the gaze of science, conservation and the general public is on tropical rain forests. This focus neglects that half of the global tropics is too seasonally dry to support rain forests and that this dry portion is home to one third of the global population. Focusing on tropical America, this talk will explain how the dry forest and savanna biomes of the tropics hold unique and high plant species diversity that current approaches to conservation and ecosystem restoration are often failing to protect. It will examine how understanding patterns of evolution and biogeography across all these biomes can help to understand tropical species diversification more broadly.

Toby’s research has aimed to address one of the fundamental questions of tropical biology – how and when did the huge species numbers in the tropics arise? It is grounded in taxonomic, floristic inventory and phylogenetic research, which provides the foundation to address evolutionary and biogeographic questions. In recent years he has focused more of his work on outcomes relevant to conservation and sustainable livelihoods in tropical Latin America. He has particular interest in raising the profile of neglected but highly threatened tropical dry forest and savanna biomes.
Date: 29 April 2022, 16:15 (Friday, 1st week, Trinity 2022)
Venue: Dyson Perrins Building, off South Parks Road OX1 3QY
Venue Details: Diversity Room, ground floor
Speaker: Prof Toby Pennington (University of Exeter)
Organising department: Oxford University Centre for the Environment
Organiser: Jane Applegarth (University of Oxford, Oxford University Centre for the Environment)
Organiser contact email address: jane.applegarth@eci.ox.ac.uk
Host: Professor Yadvinder Malhi (University of Oxford)
Part of: Oxford Centre for Tropical Forests
Booking required?: Required
Booking url: https://www.tropicalforests.ox.ac.uk/event/toby-pennington/
Cost: Free
Audience: Public
Editor: Jane Applegarth