
Pablo GuerreroUniversity of Concepción · Departamento de Botánica
Pablo Guerrero
Dr. Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
About
62
Publications
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Introduction
My research seeks to unravel the processes shaping the biogeography, macroevolution, and systematics of plant lineages. In our lab, we employ a diverse range of methods that integrate morphological studies, molecular techniques, and modeling approaches. Specifically, we utilize phylogenetics, genomics, spatial statistics, comparative analyses, and species distribution modeling. Additionally, we focus on studying endemic floras to gain deeper insights into ongoing extinction processes.
Additional affiliations
November 2021 - September 2023
November 2021 - present
Millennium Institute Biodiversity of Antarctic and Subantarctic Ecosystems (BASE)
Position
- Principal Investigator
Publications
Publications (62)
Members of the cactus family are keystone species of arid and semiarid biomes in the Americas, as they provide shelter and resources to support other members of ecosystems. Extraordinary examples are the several species of flies of the genus Drosophila that lay eggs and feed in their rotting stems, which provide a model system for studying evolutio...
Chile’s distinctive flora, geographical isolation, and complex topography collectively contribute to a notable endemic species diversity, particularly within central regions identified as critical areas for biodiversity conservation. The cactus genus Eriosyce , as currently circumscribed, encompasses seven sections, with Eriosyce sect. Horridocatus...
Background and Aims
Pleistocene climatic oscillations, characterized by arid (interglacial) and pluvial (glacial) phases, have profoundly impacted the floras of Mediterranean climates. Our study investigates the hypothesis that these climatic extremes have promoted phases of range expansion and contraction in the Eriosyce sect. Neoporteria, resulti...
In this era of a global biodiversity crisis, vascular plants are facing unprecedented extinction rates. We conducted an assessment of the extinction risk of 32 species and 7 subspecies of Copiapoa, a genus endemic to Chile's fog‐dependent coastal Atacama Desert. We applied the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List Categories and C...
Climate change is projected to substantially alter the Southern Ocean’s physical and chemical properties, thereby impacting its marine ecosystems and species, particularly those in Antarctic and sub-Antarctic regions. This study focuses on Neobuccinum eatoni, a polar marine ‘true whelk’ endemic to these regions, utilizing 166 spatially independent...
The Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A) format, based on the Darwin Core standard (Wieczorek et al. 2012), facilitates the exchange, management, and integration of biodiversity data from multiple sources. This ability to collate biodiversity data allows datasets to be aggregated at community-supported infrastructures, merged in different combinations, meta...
Plant–plant positive interactions are key drivers of community structure. Yet, the underlying molecular mechanisms of facilitation processes remain unexplored. We investigated the ‘nursing’ effect of Maihueniopsis camachoi, a cactus that thrives in the Atacama Desert between c. 2800 and 3800 m above sea level. We hypothesised that an important prot...
Biodiversity portals are emerging as some of the most powerful tools for scientific research and management based on scientific collections. We discuss the importance of web portals in biodiversity research and highlight the commendable progress made by two digitisation projects in Chile: herbariodigital.cl and the Atlas of Chilean Biodiversity. Th...
The tribe Astereae (Asteraceae) displays an American Amphitropical Disjunction. To understand the eco-evolutionary dynamics associated with a long-distance dispersal event and subsequent colonization of extratropical South America, we compared the climatic and geographic distributions of South American species with their closest North American rela...
The Atacama Desert, one of the driest places on earth, holds a rich biodiversity that becomes most appreciable in years when unusual rainfall accumulation triggers a phenomenon of explosive development of ephemeral herbaceous and woody desert species known as “desierto florido” or “blooming desert.” Despite the scientific importance of this unique...
In this study, our objective was to evaluate changes in the distribution patterns of the native intertidalchironomid diptera, Telmatogeton magellanicus, in response to the effects of climate change in the south of the Magellanic subantarctic ecoregion , where the Cape Horn Reserve Biosphere is located.
The competition between floristic catalogues and the nomenclatural issues of the treated taxa, is a problem for the botanical knowledge of countries. Consequently, it seems to be necessary to merge former taxonomical proposals into a unified list based on phylogenetic hypotheses, the rules of nomenclature and dichotomous keys to the Chilean subfami...
Unraveling the processes involved in the origin of a substantial fraction of biodiversity can be a particularly difficult task in groups of similar, and often convergent, morphologies. The genus Eriosyce (Cactaceae) might present a greater specific diversity since much of its species richness might be hidden in morphological species complexes. The...
This data paper presents a largely phylogeny-based online taxonomic backbone for the Cactaceae compiled from literature and online sources using the tools of the EDIT Platform for Cybertaxonomy. The data will form a contribution of the Caryophyllales Network for the World Flora Online and serve as the base for further integration of research result...
Delayed flowering due to later snowmelt and colder temperatures at higher elevations in the alpine are expected to lead to flowering phenological adjustment to prevent decoupling of peak flowering from the warmest time of the year, thereby favoring pollination. However, even if flowering is brought forward in the season at higher elevations, an ele...
Background
Sympatric congeneric plants might share pollinators, or each species might avoid competition by evolving specialized traits that generate partitions in pollinator assemblages. In both cases, pollen limitation (a decrease in the quality and quantity of compatible reproductive pollen) can occur, driving the plant mating system to autogamy...
The loss of individuals in disturbed sites may be buffered by the presence of small natural features (SNFs), sites acting as ecological refuges preventing the loss of phenotypic variability and genetic diversity of plants. An important group of SNFs is rocky outcrops, singular geological formations that stand out from the surrounding matrix which c...
Background and Aims
Global climate change is a major threat to biodiversity worldwide. Several arid areas might expand in the future, but it is not clear if this change would be positive or negative for arid-adapted lineages. Here, we explore whether climatic niche properties are involved in the configuration of climate refugia and thus in future s...
The taxonomy of Chilean Cactaceae is notoriously difficult (see e.g., Duarte et al. 2014). Molecular data, and phylogenetic approaches, provided answer to better understand the natural classification of cacti (see e.g., Nyffeler 2002, Edwards 2005, Nyffeler & Eggli 2010, Ritz et al. 2012, Schlumpberger & Renner 2012, Larridon et al. 2015, 2018). As...
Copiapoa (Cactaceae) is a genus endemic to the Chilean Atacama Desert. The taxa of Copiapoa subsection Cinerei occur in an area of high species richness and high levels of species endemism of the Central Chilean biodiversity hotspot. Four taxa are usually recognised in this group: Copiapoa gigantea (sometimes placed in C. cinerea as C. cinerea subs...
Populations of the columnar cactus genus Eulychnia (Cactaceae) are an iconic sight in the Chilean Atacama Desert. The most recent taxonomic treatment of the genus suggested to accept up to seven taxa at species level based on morphological data. To date, species boundaries and infrageneric relationships in Eulychnia have not been investigated using...
Phylogenomic approaches offer a wealth of data, but a bewildering diversity of methodological choices. These choices can strongly affect the resulting topologies. Here, we explore two controversial approaches (binning genes into "supergenes" and inclusion of only rapidly evolving sites), using new data from hyloid frogs. Hyloid frogs encompass ∼53%...
An appropriate germination response to environmental conditions is the first requirement for the establishment of a plant in a determined geographic area; therefore changes in the germination niche may be critical in configuring the current pattern of species distributions. Furthermore, the spread of many Neotropical groups to higher latitudes are...
A high proportion of plant species is predicted to be threatened with extinction in the near future. However, the threat status of only a small number has been evaluated compared with key animal groups, rendering the magnitude and nature of the risks plants face unclear. Here we report the results of a global species assessment for the largest plan...
PREMISE OF THE STUDY: Species of the endemic Chilean cactus genus Copiapoa have cylindrical or (sub)globose stems that are solitary or form (large) clusters and typically yellow flowers. Many species are threatened with extinction. Despite being icons of the Atacama Desert and well loved by cactus enthusiasts, the evolution and diversity of Copiapo...
Species climate requirements are useful for predicting their geographic distribution. It is often assumed that the niche requirements for invasive plants are conserved during invasion, especially when the invaded regions share similar climate conditions. California and central Chile have a remarkable degree of convergence in their vegetation struct...
Aim Shifts between the western South American sclerophyll and winter-rainfall desert biomes and their relationship to climatic niche evolution and aridity development were investigated in the South American endemic geophytic Leucocoryne (Alliaceae) clade.
Location Western South America.
Methods We constructed a molecular phylogeny (ITS), estimate...
The assembly of regional biotas and organismal responses to anthropogenic climate change both depend on the capacity of organisms to adapt to novel ecological conditions. Here we demonstrate the concept of evolutionary lag time, the time between when a climatic regime or habitat develops in a region and when it is colonized by a given clade. We ana...
http://www.pnas.org/content/110/28/11469.abstract
The assembly of regional biotas and organismal responses to anthropogenic climate change both depend on the capacity of organisms to adapt to novel ecological conditions. Here we demonstrate the concept of evolutionary lag time, the time between when a climatic regime or habitat develops in a region and when it is colonized by a given clade. We ana...
Background: The Cactaceae is a diverse and conspicuous Neotropical family that has evolved a wide variety of adaptations during co-evolution with their interacting species. Recent research has indicated complex ecological and evolutionary inter-actions involving cacti and other organisms. Aims: We reviewed four studies involving cacti that have imp...
The classification of Eriosyce subgenus Neo-porteria (''subsection'' in the sense of Kattermann) and the role of allopatry/sympatry in the diversification of the group were studied by use of cladistic and predictive dis-tribution modeling methods. We reconstructed the phylo-genetic relationships of subgenus Neoporteria by analyzing 38 morphological...
Realizamos un experimento de laboratorio para evaluar el efecto de la luz blanca en la germinación de cinco taxa de Eriosyce subgen. Neoporteria. Todas las taxa germinaron profusamente con presencia de luz, mientras que en oscuridad casi no se registró germinación. Se discute que este rasgo fisiológico podría ser una respuesta conservada en el grup...
Realizamos un experimento de laboratorio para evaluar el efecto de la luz blanca en la germinación de cinco taxa de Eriosyce subgen. Neoporteria. Todas las taxa germinaron profusamente con presencia de luz, mientras que en oscuridad casi no se registró germinación. Se discute que este rasgo fisiológico podría ser una respuesta conservada en el grup...
El libro Ecología y evolución de interacciones planta-animal concentra múltiples aproximaciones teóricas y casos de estudio
de un componente crucial de la biodiversidad, las interacciones planta-animal, equilibrando la asimetría existente entre la
cantidad de textos cuyo foco principal son las interacciones negativas (i.e. competencia y herbivoría)...
Plant regeneration is strongly determined by light and soil moisture differences between habitats; both variables are modified by large-scale forest fragmentation. Several studies have indicated this alteration as the mechanism involved in tropical forest community change. The effects of fragmentation may be much more severe in Mediterranean and de...
http://www.biouls.cl/lrojo/lrojo03/public_html/libro/20.pdf
Se estableció un ranking para 528 de las 532 especies endémicas a Chile con presencia en la Región de Atacama. Para ello, se calculó un Índice de Prioridad (IP) considerando dos parámetros asociados a la unicidad taxonómica y al grado de endemismo. La unicidad taxonómica fue evaluada considerando el número de especies por género y número de géneros...
RESUMEN La conservación ex situ cada vez está adquiriendo mayor relevancia, a la par de la conservación in situ, dentro de una aproximación integradora de conservación de la diversidad biológica. En el país los esfuerzos en Conservación ex situ de diversidad vegetal son más bien escasos, especialmente para la flora de la Región de Atacama. El Insti...
The effect of chilling on germination was examined for six Placea species, a genus in the Amaryllidaceae endemic to the Andes and Coastal Range of central Chile. Based on their natural environment, we hypothesized that low temperatures would be important for germination in theses species. We addressed two questions (i) do Placea seeds require chill...
The effect of chilling on germination was examined for six Placea species, a genus in the Amaryllidaceae endemic to the Andes and Coastal Range of central Chile. Based on their natural environment, we hypothesized that low temperatures would be important for germination in theses species. We addressed two questions (i) do Placea seeds require chill...
As matrices form the major component of landscapes mosaics, assessing regeneration suitability for native species within matrices is relevant for conservation and mandatory if native remnant patches are scarce, small and contain endemic species. In central Chile, we compared in two consecutive years (2001/2002-2002/2003), seed germination and seedl...
Plant regeneration is strongly determined by light and soil moisture differences between habitats; both variables are modified by large-scale forest fragmentation. Several studies have indicated this alteration as the mechanism involved in tropical forest community change. The effects of fragmentation may be much more severe in Mediterranean and de...
The description of a new species of Eupsophus, from Los Queules National Reserve (35° 59' S, 72° 41' W) adds a new endemic taxon to the fauna of telmatobines (Amphibia, Leptodactylidae) of Chile, and extends the geographical distribution of the genus approximately 200 km to the north. The morphological description of the new species includes a kary...
Questions
Question (1)
I´m thinking on collecting pollen from several Cactaceae species and a storage duration of 1-12 months. We don´t have a -80°C chamber.