Axel Dalberg Poulsen

• PhD
• Zingiberales Taxonomist at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

East of Wallace's Line, four species were placed in the ginger genus Phaeomeria : P. anthokophinos , P. moluccana , P. novoguineensis , P. peekelii . The generic name is illegitimate and it has often been the case that the long-pedunculate species placed here belong in Etlingera . Infact, Smith combined two of these names in Etlingera in 1986 but w...

Three new species of Boesenbergia, B. bosuangiisp. nov., B. ganaensissp. nov. and B. gokusingiisp. nov. were discovered in Sabah, Malaysia. Boesenbergia bosuangii is similar to B. stenophylla R.M.Sm. in the narrowly ovate lamina but differs in the shape of the bract and the calyx. Boesenbergia ganaensis is closely allied to B. burttiana R.M.Sm. but...

The overarching aim of the present study is to sort out the taxonomy of a group of gingers that include the useful and worldwide economically important green cardamom, Elettaria cardamomum , and its wild relatives, to highlight potentially overlooked genetic resources. These species occur naturally in India and Sri Lanka, and our study facilitates...

Recent fieldwork conducted in Sumatra resulted in unusual collections of the conspicuous ginger genus Geocharis, a genus that harbours a total of six species distributed in Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula, Borneo and the Philippines. After carefully reviewing types and protologues of existing taxa, we conclude that the recent collections represent a n...

Aim: We test the hypothesis that wind dispersal is more common among emergent tree species given that being tall increases the likelihood of effective seed dispersal. Location: Americas, Africa and the Asia-Pacific. Time period: 1970–2020. Major taxa studied: Gymnosperms and Angiosperms. Methods: We used a dataset consisting of tree inventories f...

Genome size variation is a crucial aspect of plant evolution, influenced by a complex interplay of factors. Repetitive elements, which are fundamental components of genomic architecture, often play a role in genome expansion by selectively amplifying specific repeat motifs. This study focuses on Amomum, a genus in the ginger family (Zingiberaceae),...

The density of wood is a key indicator of trees’ carbon investment strategies, impacting productivity and carbon storage. Despite its importance, the global variation in wood density and its environmental controls remain poorly understood, preventing accurate predictions of global forest carbon stocks. Here, we analyze information from 1.1 million...

Aim To determine the relationships between the functional trait composition of forest communities and environmental gradients across scales and biomes and the role of species relative abundances in these relationships. Location Global. Time period Recent. Major taxa studied Trees. Methods We integrated species abundance records from worldw...

The type of Elettaria brasiliensis was discovered at the herbarium in Pisa. The Italian naturalist Giuseppe Raddi collected this in Brazil in 1818 and published the name in 1828 and placed it in the genus, the type of which is green cardamom, E. cardamomum, native to Indian subcontinent. A close examination reveals that it belongs in the African-Ne...

Plant species with large genomes tend to be excluded from climatically more extreme environments with a shorter growing season. Species that occupy such environments are assumed to be under natural selection for more rapid growth and smaller genome size (GS). However, evidence for this is available only for temperate organisms. Here, we study the e...

Forests are a substantial terrestrial carbon sink, but anthropogenic changes in land use and climate have considerably reduced the scale of this system¹. Remote-sensing estimates to quantify carbon losses from global forests2–5 are characterized by considerable uncertainty and we lack a comprehensive ground-sourced evaluation to benchmark these est...

Understanding what controls global leaf type variation in trees is crucial for comprehending their role in terrestrial ecosystems, including carbon, water and nutrient dynamics. Yet our understanding of the factors influencing forest leaf types remains incomplete, leaving us uncertain about the global proportions of needle-leaved, broadleaved, ever...

Determining the drivers of non-native plant invasions is critical for managing native ecosystems and limiting the spread of invasive species1,2. Tree invasions in particular have been relatively overlooked, even though they have the potential to transform ecosystems and economies3,4. Here, leveraging global tree databases5-7, we explore how the phy...

Hybridization is a widespread phenomenon in the evolution of plants and exploring its role is crucial to understanding diversification processes of many taxonomic groups. Recently, more attention is focused on the role of ancient hybridization that has repeatedly been shown as triggers of evolutionary radiation, although in some cases, it can preve...

1. Biodiversity is an important component of natural ecosystems, with higher species richness often correlating with an increase in ecosystem productivity. Yet, this relationship varies substantially across environments, typically becoming less pronounced at high levels of species richness. However, species richness alone cannot reflect all importa...

A ginger species collected in Palawan, Philippines was initially thought to be Wurfbainia palawanensis but differs by the dark brown fertile bracts and red spinose fruits. This species is also morphologically similar to the continental Asian Wurfbainia microcarpa but can be distinguished from this by the entire ligule, petiolate lamina, congested r...

The facultative epiphytic ginger genus Burbidgea harbours six species hitherto thought to be endemic in Borneo. Recent fieldwork in Zamboanga region, Mindanao, Philippines, resulted in the collection of a ginger, which we identified as Burbidgea nitida. The species, however, was already collected in Zamboanga region in 1919 but the evidence remaine...

The monocot family Costaceae Nakai consists of seven genera but their mutual relationships have not been satisfactorily resolved in previous studies employing classical molecular markers. Phylogenomic analyses of 365 nuclear genes and nearly-complete plastome data provides almost fully resolved insights into their diversification. Paracostus is ide...

Alpinia malaccensis (Burm.f.) Roscoe is a rare plant in Java, Indonesia, that produces essential oils. Its sustained decline causes great concern for future uses. Therefore, the study of its diversity in its natural habitat to predict future survival needs serious focus. The present study aims to determine the genetic diversity of A. malaccensis in...

Two new species of Boesenbergia , B. sugudensis sp. nov. and B. truncata sp. nov. were discovered in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. Boesenbergia sugudensis resembles B. imbakensis in that the leaf sheath of the plant is not thickened and in the anther thecae dehiscing by longitudinal slits, but differs in having a longer petiole and tubular calyx. Boesen...

Myanmaranthus Nob.Tanaka, Suksathan & K.Armstr., a new genus of Marantaceae from northern Myanmar, is described with a single species, M. roseiflorus Nob.Tanaka & K.Armstr. Its relationship to all other genera in Asian Marantaceae is investigated through morphological examination and molecular phylogenetic analyses based upon chloroplast (rps16 i...

The latitudinal diversity gradient (LDG) is one of the most recognized global patterns of species richness exhibited across a wide range of taxa. Numerous hypotheses have been proposed in the past two centuries to explain LDG, but rigorous tests of the drivers of LDGs have been limited by a lack of high-quality global species richness data. Here we...

Setiawan E, Ardiyani M, Miftahudin, Poulsen AD, Chikmawati T. 2022. The diversity and distribution of Alpinia Zerumbet clade in West Malesia. Biodiversitas 23: 1734-1744. Alpinia belongs to the family Zingiberaceae and tribe Alpinioideae. One of the centres of Alpinia diversity is in Malesia, yet information regarding the taxon in this area is very...

Collections made in Zamboanga Peninsula in 2021 were identified as Sulettaria longituba, a species occurring in nearby Borneo, as well as Peninsular Malaysia and Sumatra. Sulettaria is therefore reported here as a new generic record for the Philippines, increasing the number of ginger genera in its flora to 18. Previously, the genus was known to oc...

A collection of a ginger from Zamboanga Peninsula, Philippines, superficially resembles Hornstedtia but is very different from all other known Philippine species especially by the elongate rachis and absence of sterile bracts. Furthermore, it does not match any other species elsewhere. In order to ascertain its generic placement, phylogenetic analy...

Lowiaceae (order Zingiberales) is a small family of forest herbs in Southeast Asia. All species belong to the genus Orchidantha. They are known for possessing orchid-like flowers that are smelly, apparently mimicking dead animals, feces, or mushrooms. Little is known of the biogeographic patterns or character evolution of the family. We sampled the...

ARDIYANI, M., ARDI, W. H., HUTABARAT, P. W. K. & POULSEN, A. D. 2021. Etlingera comosa, a new species (Zingiberaceae: Alpinioidea) from Central Sulawesi. Reinwardtia 20(2): 63−68. — Etlingera comosa Ardiyani & Ardi, a new and unusual species from Tentena, Central Sulawesi exhibiting terrestrial as well as epiphytic habit is described here. It is co...

Tropical forests are the most diverse and productive ecosystems on Earth. While better understanding of these forests is critical for our collective future, until quite recently efforts to measure and monitor them have been largely disconnected. Networking is essential to discover the answers to questions that transcend borders and the horizons of...

Chromosome counts were obtained from six species of Costaceae from Asia. Our count of 2n = 18 for Cheilocostus speciosus confirms previous counts, and the other five counts have been made for the first time (Cheilocostus borneensis, Cheilocostus globosus, Cheilocostus sopuensis, Costus muluensis and Paracostus sp.). These chromosome counts reveal t...

ARDIYANI, M., ARDI, W. H., SANTOSO, W. & POULSEN, A. D. 2020. Etlingera tjiasmantoi (Zingiberaceae), a new species from Central Sulawesi. Reinwardtia 19(2): 103‒108. ‒‒ A new species of Etlingera, Etlingera tjiasmantoi Ardiyani & Ardi, was discovered at Tentena, Central Sulawesi, and is described here. This species resembles Etlingera flexuosa A.D....

A new ginger species, Sundamomum corrugatum from north east Sarawak is described. The species is easily recognised by its deeply corrugated leaves which at first glance might resemble Etlingera corrugata. The floral characters of the new species as well as of Amomum bungoense correspond well with the main characters circumscribing the genus Sundamo...

New Guinea is the world’s largest tropical island and has fascinated naturalists for centuries. Home to some of the best-preserved ecosystems on the planet and to intact ecological gradients—from mangroves to tropical alpine grasslands—that are unmatched in the Asia-Pacific region, it is a globally recognized centre of biological and cultural diver...

Three species of Pleuranthodium were encountered and collected during a survey of gingers at Mount Wilhelm, Chimbu Province, Papua New Guinea. Based on new material, the only previously known Pleuranthodium from this area, P. piundaundense, is described in more detail highlighting new diagnostic characters and its known distribution range is expand...

The sensitivity of tropical forest carbon to climate is a key uncertainty in predicting global climate change. Although short-term drying and warming are known to affect forests, it is unknown if such effects translate into long-term responses. Here, we analyze 590 permanent plots measured across the tropics to derive the equilibrium climate contro...

The sensitivity of tropical forest carbon to climate is a key uncertainty in predicting global climate change. Although short-term drying and warming are known to affect forests, it is unknown if such effects translate into long-term responses. Here, we analyze 590 permanent plots measured across the tropics to derive the equilibrium climate contro...

Structurally intact tropical forests sequestered about half of the global terrestrial carbon uptake over the 1990s and early 2000s, removing about 15 per cent of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions. Climate-driven vegetation models typically predict that this tropical forest ‘carbon sink’ will continue for decades. Here we assess trends in the c...

Structurally intact tropical forests sequestered about half of the global terrestrial carbon uptake over the 1990s and early 2000s, removing about 15 per cent of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions1–3. Climate-driven vegetation models typically predict that this tropical forest ‘carbon sink’ will continue for decades4,5. Here we assess trends in...

In 1909, Ridley published Adelmeria characterized by its congested terminal inflorescence with large persistent floral bracts. All five species at some point placed in Adelmeria were synonymized in Alpinia by Loesener and subsequent authors. Several phylogenetic studies revealed that Alpinia is highly polyphyletic, suggesting that it should be spli...

The genus Vanoverberghia currently includes three species namely V. sepulchrei and V. rubrobracteata from the Philippines and V. sasakiana from Taiwan. New material targeting the Alpinia eubractea clade of the tribe Alpinieae was used to test the monophyly of Vanoverberghia. A combined analysis of the ITS and trnK/matK regions reveals that these th...

A new species, Etlingera mamasarum A.D.Poulsen & Ardiyani was discovered in Gunung Gandangdewata National Park, West Sulawesi. It is similar to Etlingera flexuosa A.D.Poulsen but differs in having flowers which are shorter than the bracts. It is described, illustrated and DNA barcoded. Three additional species (Etlingera cylindrica A.D.Poulsen, E....

Research on gingers and their traditional uses by three different indigenous ethnic groups at Lore Lindu National Park, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia was carried out from February to June 2018. The objectives of the research was to gain information about the diversity of the family Zingiberaceae and its traditional uses by the Topo Baria , Toi Toro M...

2019, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited. In this Letter, the middle initial of author G. J. Nabuurs was omitted, and he should have been associated with an additional affiliation: ‘Forest Ecology and Forest Management Group, Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands’ (now added as affiliation 18...

A spatially explicit global map of tree symbioses with nitrogen-fixing bacteria and mycorrhizal fungi reveals that climate variables are the primary drivers of the distribution of different types of symbiosis.

Based on studies of types and recent collections, the number of species of Etlingera Giseke in the Philippines is doubled from eight to 16. Three species ( Etlingera alba , E. brevilabrum and E. sessilanthera ) are reported here for the first time, E. pandanicarpa is synonymised with the Bornean E. fimbriobracteata , and four new combinations ( E....

In 1950, Holttum placed species from Malaysia in the cardamom genus, Elettaria, while noting that they may, in fact, belong elsewhere in the tribe Alpinieae. We tested this hypothesis applying phylogenetic methods using nuclear ITS and At103, and plastid matK, ndhF and trnL-F sequences from several samples of the genus. In the resulting molecular p...

The tropical ginger genus Amomum (Zingiberaceae) has always posed challenges for classification based on morphological characters. Previous molecular phylogenetic studies showed Amomum to be paraphyletic but limited sampling and absence of the data of the type Amomum subulatum made it impossible to resolve the paraphyly and make nomenclatural chang...

The original version of this Article contained an error in the third sentence of the abstract and incorrectly read "Here, using long-term plot monitoring records of up to half a century, we find that intact forests in Borneo gained 0.43 Mg C ha-1 year-1 (95% CI 0.14-0.72, mean period 1988-2010) above-ground live biomass", rather than the correct "H...

Significance Identifying and explaining regional differences in tropical forest dynamics, structure, diversity, and composition are critical for anticipating region-specific responses to global environmental change. Floristic classifications are of fundamental importance for these efforts. Here we provide a global tropical forest classification tha...

Less than half of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions remain in the atmosphere. While carbon balance models imply large carbon uptake in tropical forests, direct on-the-ground observations are still lacking in Southeast Asia. Here, using long-term plot monitoring records of up to half a century, we find that intact forests in Borneo gained 0.43...

Zingiber Mill. is distributed from India to the Pacific but only a few species are known from east of Wallace’s Line, whereas the area to the west is rich in species. A recent collection from limestone at Bantimurung, South Sulawesi, Indonesia represents a new eastern species, Zingiber ultralimitale Ardiyani & A.D.Poulsen, which is described, illus...

Two new Orchidantha species discovered in Sarawak, O. micrantha and O. megalantha, are described and illustrated. They may well represent the species with the smallest and the largest flowers currently known in the genus and certainly from Borneo. With its small flowers, O. micrantha is similar to O. borneensis to which it is compared. The large-fl...

A new species, Etlingera frederikii , is described and illustrated, and is the first record of the genus in the Bougainville Region. Etlingera frederikii and E. cevuga , which occurs in Fiji and Samoa, are the two most easterly species in the distribution range of the genus. The new species differs from Etlingera cevuga in its much larger leaves, w...

Etlingera pavieana (Zingiberaceae) was originally described from Cambodia and is a used a spice or as medicine. Recent collections enable us to provide a complete description with improved illustrations and knowledge on distribution which now also includes Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. Amomum hirticalyx is newly combined as a subspecies of E. paviean...

Tropical forests are global centres of biodiversity and carbon storage. Many tropical countries aspire to protect forest to fulfil biodiversity and climate mitigation policy targets, but the conservation strategies needed to achieve these two functions depend critically on the tropical forest tree diversity-carbon storage relationship. Assessing th...

Tropical forests are global centres of both biodiversity and carbon storage. Many tropical countries aspire to protect forest to fulfil biodiversity and climate mitigation policy targets, but the conservation strategies needed to achieve these two functions depend critically on the tropical forest diversity-carbon relationship and this remains larg...

The Botanical Garden in Oslo was established in 1814 and is the oldest part of the Natural History Museum, one of the two museums of the University of Oslo. To celebrate the bicentenary, the Museum decided to launch an ambitious programme of events covering the entire year and adding several new permanent assets. This paper provides a brief history...

The high species richness of tropical forests has long been recognized, yet there remains substantial uncertainty regarding the actual number of tropical tree species. Using a pantropical tree inventory database from closed canopy forests, consisting of 657,630 trees belonging to 11,371 species, we use a fitted value of Fisher’s alpha and an approx...

The high species richness of tropical forests has long been recognized, yet there remains substantial uncertainty regarding the actual number of tropical tree species. Using a pantropical tree inventory database from closed canopy forests, consisting of 657,630 trees belonging to 11,371 species, we use a fitted value of Fisher's alpha and an approx...

The high species richness of tropical forests has long been recognized, yet there remains substantial uncertainty regarding the actual number of tropical tree species. Using a pantropical tree inventory database from closed canopy forests, consisting of 657,630 trees belonging to 11,371 species, we use a fitted value of Fisher’s alpha and an approx...

With over 3500 km of ultramafic rock outcrops in Sabah (4.6% of the total landmass of the state), Malaysia has one of the largest surface expressions of ultramafic rock, and one of the most species-rich floras occupying these outcrops, in the world. Ultramafic rock occupies < 1% of the land surface of the earth and these outcrops are renowned as ce...

Amomum compactum Sol. ex Maton (Java cardamom) is widely cultivated across Southeast Asia as a spice and medicine. Confusion has surrounded this species both morphologically and nomenclaturally. The nomenclatural confusion between Elettaria cardamomum (L.) Maton and certain other names in Amomum is discussed, and the identity of A. compactum is cla...

Etlingera littoralis is a common ground species in Zingiberaceae. It is widely distributed in Peninsular Thailand both in the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea coasts. The morphological characters of E. littoralis and two related species, E. megalocheilos and Etlingera sp. are similar. Although E. megalocheilos were not found in this study, its...

The gingers are rhizomatous perennial herbs, mostly aromatic, of the family Zingiberaceae which has over 1500 species, with its centre of diversity in Asia. It is the largest family in the order Zingiberales, which contains nearly 3000 species. The gingers are related to the Bananas, Strelitzias (Bird-of-paradise flowers), Orchidanthas, Heliconias,...

Although tropical forests are renowned for their high plant diversity, to date there has been no global quantitative evaluation of the local species richness of terrestrial forest herbs in tropical forests. In this paper, richness and composition of terrestrial herb assemblages is compared in tropical forests of America, Africa and South East Asia....

The genus Etlingera is one of the largest genera in the ginger family and exhibits an amazing morphological diversity throughout its range from India, through Malesia and to the Pacific. The Indonesian island of Sulawesi is at the western boundary of Wallacea and harbours a unique richness of plants and animals. Before this revision, only four spec...

Recent collections from Sulawesi allow an investigation of Amomum subgenus Botryamomum K. Schum. and its three species, Amomum chrysogynia K. Schum., A. echinosphaera K. Schum., and A. melichroum K. Schum. It is concluded that this subgenus contains a single species, Amomum melichroum K. Schum. Amomum subgenus Botryamomum and Amomum melichroum are...

Marlina Ardiyani, Yessi Santika, Jin Hyub Paik, Anshary Maruzy & Axel Dalberg Poulsen. 2012. Gingers of Lombok. Floribunda 4(5): 113–120. — The ginger flora of the Lesser Sunda islands is very poorly known. A preliminary survey of Lombok in 2011 documented five wild species (Etlingera rubroloba, E. calophrys, Amomum maxium, A. gracile, Alpinia sp....

A new genus of Zingiberaceae from Vietnam, Newmania N.S. Lý & Škorničk., with two species Newmania serpens N.S. Lý & Škorničk. and N. orthostachys N.S. Lý & Škorničk., is described and illustrated. Its relationship with Haniffia Holttum and phylogenetic position in the tribe Zingibereae is investigated using nrITS and trnK and matK plastid sequence...

The marked biogeographic difference between western (Malay Peninsula and Sumatra) and eastern (Borneo) Sundaland is surprising given the long time that these areas have formed a single landmass. A dispersal barrier in the form of a dry savanna corridor during glacial maxima has been proposed to explain this disparity. However, the short duration of...

Four species of Tapeinochilos have been described from material collected in Wallacea. We designate the lectotype of the genus, T. pungens, which was synonymized with T. ananassae in 1917 and add here T. teysmannianus as another synonym. The type of T. koordersianus from Sulawesi has been rediscovered at Herbarium Bogoriense and is identified as Et...