Abstract booklet - gtö – Society for Tropical Ecology

180 SCIENTIFIC POSTER SESSION | FOYERSCIENTIFIC POSTER SESSION | FOYER181WEDNESDAY | FOYERTopic: The Andean biodiversity hotspot and its future: biodiversity,eco-system functioning and ecosystem services underenvironmental changeCLIMATE CHANGE IN THE CENTRAL ANDES OF SOUTHERNECUADOR – A MODELLING PERSPECTIVEJörg Bendix 1 , Katja Trachte 11LCRS, University of Marburg, Marburg, DE, bendix@staff.uni-marburg.deThe Andes of Ecuador are one of the ’hottest’ hotspots of vascularplant biodiversity and responds very sensitiv to any changings in itsecological system. Forest clearing for conversion to agricultural landis the main threat to Ecuador’s biodiversity. Within the DFG researchunit 816 investigations of the interaction between biotic, abioticand human factors provide a profound knowledge of the relevantecosystem and its human users. In order to analyze features andprocesses of this ecosystem and to capture climate feedbacks on theland coverage and vice versa a coupled atmosphere-soil-vegetationmodel (Weather Research and Forecasting model and CommunityLand Model) is implemented. This model is also used to unveil theimpacts of climate and land cover change on the regional climate ofthe ecosystem. The poster will present the concept and first resultsof the atmospheric compound of the study, which will be discussedin the context of the environmental conditions of the target area.Topic: African savannas biodiversity - past, present, futureTHE EVOLUTION OF SAVANNA GRASSES:A CASE STUDY ON THE EVOLUTIONARY HISTORY OFANDROPOGONEAEGaelle Bocksberger 1 , Philippe Daget 2 , Marco Schmidt 3 , Jan Schnitzler 1 ,Thomas Janssen 4 , Bernard Toutain 2 , Adjima Thombiano 5 , Georg Zizka 4 ,Cyrille Châtelain 61BiK-F, Frankfurt am Main, DE, gaelle.bocksberger@senckenberg.de, 2 CIRAD,Montpellier, FR, 3 Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, DE, 4 Senckenberg ResearchInstitute, Frankfurt am Main, DE, 5 University of Ouagadougou, Ouagadougou, BF,6Conservatoire et jardin botanique de la ville de Genève, Genève, CHGrasses (Poaceae) are a dominant element of the African savanna vegetation,the tribe Andropogoneae typically being represented with high diversity andabundance. Given the importance of grasses in the savanna ecosystem, as a carbonsink, and livelihood product, it is crucial to understand their distribution, identifythe underlying climatic factors and predict how their ranges might be altered byclimate change. Moreover, the evolution of the savanna ecosystem is consideredto be closely linked to that of grasses. We analysed a) patterns of grass diversity inWest Africa, b) the relationship between the development of African savannas andthe evolution of grasses, and c) the evolution of the ecological niche of selectedAndropogoneae. Using a database including more than 250 grass species, wemodelled spatial and temporal distribution patterns of Poaceae. Furthermore,combining a dated molecular phylogeny with species distribution modelling,we reconstruct the evolutionary history of Andropogoneae to better understandthe drivers of the major grass expansion during the Miocene. Grass diversity wasfound to be highest in the Sudanian savanna regions, decreasing towards desertbiomes and the Guinean zone, an area of markedly wetter climate. Our analysisof the distribution of selected tribes of Poaceae confirmed a higher diversity ofChlorideae in arid climates and the presence of Andropogoneae preferably in lessarid regions.Wednesday WEDNESDAY 16:00 | FOYER | FoyergtöSociety for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Status and future of tropical biodiversity | Frankfurt, 21 - 24 February 2011gtö