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Research en the Golondrinas
My work in the cloud forests of Golondrinas focuses on documenting the diversity and understanding the evolutionary relationships of the plant family Gesneriaceae. My first expedition to the Golondrinas Reserve was in 1995 while serving as a US Peace Corps Volunteer with the Herbario Nacional de Ecuador. More recently, I returned to Golondrinas while conducting my Ph.D. dissertation research while attending the George Washington University. Currently, I am a Research Associate with the Smithsonian Institution’s US National Museum of Natural History and postdoctoral fellow with Lynn Bohs from the University of Utah.
My research focus is geared towards understanding taxonomic diversity in an evolutionary context. I am interested in species level taxonomy, molecular phylogenetics, and floral diversification. The plant family Gesneriaceae is one of the 15 most abundant plant families in Ecuador and Golondrinas is distinctive because it has many floristic affinities with Colombia. Thus, many of the Gesneriaceae species found in the Golondrinas reserve are unique to Ecuador.
I recently published a new species of Gesneriaceae (Alloplectus oblongicalyx) which is found in the Golondrinas reserve (see attached PDF file from the journal Novon; also see attached photographic image). Many other species from the cloud forests of Golondrinas are new to science and I hope to publish these in the near future with Laurence E. Skog from the Smithsonian Institution’s US National Museum of Natural History.
Another aspect of my research involves understanding floral diversification (see attached PDF file of Systematic Botany article). I am using molecular sequencing and morphology to understand the evolution of resupinate (upside down) flowers in the plant family Gesneriaceae. Resupinate flowers in the plant family Gesneriaceae are an interesting phenomenon because they have evolved multiple times in closely related lineages (clades). Golondrinas is an ideal place to study to study these flowers because there are over 35 species of Gesneriaceae and because both resupinate and non-resupinate members grow sympatrically.
John L. Clark, Ph.D.
Research Associate
Botany Department, MRC-166
National Museum of Natural History
Smithsonian Institution
P.O. Box 37012
Washington, DC 20013-7012
Email: clarkjo@si.edu
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