Biodiversity patterns in environmental space

Ever since Aristotle suggested that the distributions of organisms were related to environmental factors and Humboldt travelled the world observing dramatic differences in species richness depending on climate, scientists have been keenly aware that climate strongly influences the distribution and persistence of species on earth. Given its importance, we have started to evaluate diversity patterns directly in environmental space, instead of in geographical space as is commonly done. This shift in the lens through which we study diversity both confirms old hypotheses and provides new perspectives on the distribution of diversity on earth. In this talk I will discuss the approach and its historical roots, provide examples of where it has provided new insights into established theories and hypotheses and suggest future avenues for research.

I study how the spatial and temporal arrangement of habitats influences biological diversity. This issue relates to a number of fundamental questions in ecology that have challenged scientists for decades. Questions include: Why do mountains have extraordinary biodiversity? What is the importance of niche partitioning in maintaining biological diversity? and How does the climate history of a region influence its current patterns of biological diversity? Addressing these types of questions requires integration from a range of fields, including ecology, evolutionary biology, biogeography, climatology, geology and conservation biology because mechanisms that influence biological diversity are played out across a range of spatial and temporal scales. Much of my current work is focused on the role of plant-hummingbird interactions in the generation and maintenance of high tropical diversity; however, I also work on multiple other systems and questions including drivers of global diversity and, most recently, of European montane plants.