OLIGOCENE AND NEOGENE VEGETATION CHANGE IN SIBERIA AND THE NORTHEAST OF RUSSIA RECONSTRUCTED FROM PALAEOCARPOLOGICAL DATA
Dr. Svetlana Popova is a Russian botanist and paleontologist from Komarov Botanical Institute, St Petersburg, Russia. She works on the paleobotany and paleoclimatology in Russia, with an emphasis on the western Siberia.
Time: July 29
Site: 5th floor, Plum Blossom Hall 2, Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center
Abstract: The Cenozoic continental deposits of Siberia are reknowned for their carpological record. P. Nikitin, V. Nikitin and P. Dorofeev carried out comprehensive studies there throughout the 20th century. Based on the flora-bearing horizons four main evolutionary stages were outlined by V. Nikitin. In the first phase, the Pre-Turgayan, a subtropical flora existed (Late Cretaceous – Eocene). The second, Turgayan phase is characterized by the expansion of a boreal, warm temperate flora. This flora evolved during the Early Oligocene and was replaced by diverse mesophilous mixed coniferous-broad-leaved forests.
DESPITE PHYLOGENETIC EFFECTS, C3-C4 LINEAGES BRIDGE THE ECOLOGICAL GAP TO C4 PHOTOSYNTHESIS
Dr. Marjorie Lundgren is studying as Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Animal and Plant Sciences at University of Sheffield. She received a PhD from the Department of Animal and Plant Sciences at University of Sheffield.
Time: July 27
Site: 5th floor, Bougainvillea Hall, Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center
Abstract: Photosynthesis is not only the root source of the prosperity and development of all life, but also an important medium in earth carbon-oxygen balance. Depending on the process of photosynthesis, plants are divided into C-3 plants and C-4 plants. However, there is still a class of plants in nature, which is neither C-3 plant nor C-4 plant. Its morphological structure and physiological and biochemical characteristics are between the C-3 plants and the C-4 plants.
A TEST OF CLIMATE-INFORMED RESTORATION IN FORESTS ADJACENT TO THE NORTH SHORE OF LAKE SUPERIOR, MN, USA
Dr. Julie R. Etterson is an associate professor in the Department of Biology at University of Minnesota Duluth. She received a PhD from the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior at University of Minnesota. She has published many scientific papers in Science, PNAS, New Phytologist, Ecology and other international well-known journals.
Time: July 24
Site: 5th floor, Rose Hall 1&2, Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center
Abstract: Climate change caused by human activities has an important effect on human survival and development, which is a major challenge for the world. It threatens our ability to achieve global food security, eradicate poverty and achieve sustainable development. Climate change affects agricultural and natural ecosystems directly or indirectly by changing the pattern of rainfall, drought, floods and pests and diseases.
PHYLOGENOMIC INSIGHTS INTO THE EVOLUTION OF AUSTRALIA’S RICH ENDEMIC ORCHID FLORA
Dr. Katharina Schulte is a molecular systematist and evolutionary biologist with a research focus on tropical plant biodiversity. Her research interests lie in understanding the diversification of species-rich tropical plant groups in time and space, and the underlying factors that shaped today’s diversity.
Time: July 25
Site: 5th floor, Plum Blossom Hall, Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center
Abstract: The Australian flora is characterized by high levels of endemicity, with 92% of its ca. 19,324 native vascular plant species not occurring anywhere else. The three orchid tribes Diurideae, Cranichideae, and Dendrobieae account for nearly 90% of the species diversity of the rich and highly endemic Australian orchid flora, which harbors many threatened species. Several lineages within these tribes underwent extensive diversification on the Australian continent, such as in the subtribesPrasophyllinae, Caladeniinae and Thelymitrinae (Diurideae), Pterostylidinae (Cranichideae), and sections of the epiphytic mega genus Dendrobium (Dendrobiinae). Previous phylogenetic studies in these groups were based on few molecular markers resulting in partially unresolved tree topologies with low support, and had gaps in the sampling of critical taxonomic groups. Hence, they provided only limited insights into phylogenetic relationships, morphological character evolution and spatio-temporal evolution.
COLLECTIONS IN 21ST CENTURY SCIENCE: MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER
Dr. Vicki Funk is a senior research botanist at the Smithsonian Institution, USA. She is well-known for her work on systematics of the Compositae, including monographs, checklists, phylogenies and supertrees; theory and practice of phylogenetics and biogeography.
Time: July 29
Site: 6th floor, Sweet Osmanthus Hall, Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center
Abstract: The 19th Century ushered in a new age as naturalists undertook large-scale collecting expeditions leading to field observations and preserved specimens in the short term, and to major scientific advances in the long term. Notable among these were the founding of Physical Geography, Meteorology, Ecology (Humboldt), Biogeography (Hooker), and the theory of Evolution (Darwin, Wallace). In the 20th Century collections were central to paradigm shifts, including theories of Continental Drift (Eigenmann) and Phylogenetic Systematics (Hennig, Brundin). Past expeditions provided tissues for all the cladograms as the era of Phylogenetics took over biological thought. Will this tide of collections-based scientific advancement continue? In the first 15 years of the 21st Century we have seen tree-thinking pervade the life sciences, leading to the emergence of Evolutionary Ecology, Evolutionary Medicine, and new Food Safety methods, and collections data increasingly are used for climate change studies.
THIRTY CLUES TO ANGIOSPERM EXCEPTIONAL EVOLUTIONARY DIVERSIFICATION
Susana Magallón is a Senior Research Scientists at the Institute of Biology of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Mexico City. She studied Biology (BS) and Plant Biology (MSc) at UNAM, and obtained her PhD from the Department of Geophysical Sciences at the University of Chicago.
Time: 25 July
Site:1st floor, Hall 4, Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center
Abstract: Angiosperms are the cornerstone of present-day terrestrial biomes, but little is known about the macroevolutionary processes underlying their diversification. A great controversy exists regarding the time when extant angiosperms lineages originated, and many questions remain regarding their evolutionary expansion: What is the phylogenetic position and temporal distribution of radiations leading to extant megadiversity? Are these radiations concentrated in particular phylogenetic regions or times?
DOES SPECIATION DRIVE BIODIVERSITY? A SYSTEMATIC ANALYSIS OF MULTIPLE MANGROVE SPECIES ON THE INDO-MALAYAN COASTS AND A NOVEL MECHANISM OF SPECIATION
Su-hua Shi is a distinguished professor of the School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, China. Her research interest is the evolutionary genomics and phylogenetics, and great contributions in research fields of the adaptive evolution and speciation of mangroves and rice have been made by her in recent years.
Time: Tuesday, July 25
Site: 6th Floor, Sweet Osmanthus Hall, Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center
Abstract: High biodiversity may be a modern “mystery of mysteries”; in particular, speciation mechanisms have not been one of an ensemble of explanations. Indo-Malayan coasts, having continuous geological records and possessing a high level of biodiversity that includes 70 % of the living mangrove species, may offer new insights into the possible connections between biodiversity, geography and speciation. Here, we analyze the pattern of species and population divergence on these coasts by collecting DNA sequences from ~1,700 plants of 5 common mangrove species.
REGULATION OF PROTEIN KINASES IN PLANT RESPONSE TO COLD STRESS
Dr. Shu-hua Yang, Professor of China Agricultural University, Professor of Changjiang Scholar. She received a master’s degree in science from Nankai University in 1994, and a Ph. D. from the National University of Singapore in 2002. Between 2002-04 she was postdoctoral fellow at Cornell University Department of Plant Biology.
Time: Monday, July 24
Site: 6th floor, Hall 3, Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center
Abstract: This time she will talk about regulation of protein kinases in plant response to cold stress.They report that SnRK2.6/OST1 (OPEN STOMATA1), a well-known Ser/Thr protein kinase in ABA signaling, acts upstream of CBFs to positively regulate freezing tolerance. The ost1 mutants show freezing hypersensitivity, whereas overexpression of OST1 enhances freezing tolerance.
Time: Tuesday, 25 July
Site:1st floor, Hall 4, Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center
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