The Cenozoic Evolution of Biotic and Geophysical Diversity in the Tropical Andes and Amazon

press release:  The forests of tropical South America are among the great centers of biodiversity, hosting over a quarter of all vascular plant species. These forests have evolved together with the physical environment, closely linking Earth history and evolutionary history. The modes of diversity evolution through time and the drivers of evolutionary process have been debated for well over a century, and a variety of geologic and climatic processes have been linked to the evolutionary history of tropical forests. I will review some of the major hypotheses relating tectonic history, fluvial evolution, and climate change to the Cenozoic evolution of biodiversity in the tropical Amazon and Andes, highlighting some of the major uncertainties in common paradigms and some of the potential of new tools for evolving our understanding of biotic and geologic history. 

The Yi-Fu Lecture Series features a wide variety of U.S. and international guest lecturers from all geographic disciplines. Lecturers at these Friday seminars also often speak at brown-bag lunches, one-on-one student sessions, and breakfast meetings with student interest groups as part of their visit. Doctoral students are invited to present their final research. The lecture series was initiated by Dr. Tuan and receives enthusiastic support as a department and campus tradition.

All lectures are presented on Friday at 3:30pm in Science Hall - Rm 180 unless otherwise noted. Alumni, friends and the public are always invited to attend.