Tim Böhnert

University of Bonn | Uni Bonn · Nees Institute for Biodiversity of Plants

Extreme arid conditions in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile have created a unique vegetation almost entirely restricted to the desert margins along the coast of the Pacific Ocean and the Andean range. In this study we provide data on the desert vegetation along elevational gradients at four localities from the western Andean slopes, between 19°...

Premise: The cactus family (Cactaceae) is a speciose lineage with an almost entirely New World distribution. The genus Eulychnia with eight currently recognized species is endemic to the Atacama and Peruvian Deserts. Here we investigated the phylogeny of this group based on a complete taxon sampling to elucidate species delimitation and biogeograp...

Atriplex is the most species-rich genus of Amaranthaceae and one of the largest C4 clades in eudicots. Distributed predominantly in the arid subtropical and temperate regions worldwide, many Atriplex species dominate the plant communities of harsh and inhospitable inland and coastal habitats. Current threats of aridification and salinisation increa...

The post‐Miocene climatic histories of arid environments have been identified as key drivers of dispersal and diversification. Here, we investigate how climatic history correlates with the historical biogeography of the Atacama Desert genus Cristaria (Malvaceae). We analyze phylogenetic relationships and historical biogeography by using next‐genera...

The grape hyacinth (Muscari) represents an important ornamental plant group in Asparagaceae subfamily Scilloideae, comprising some 80 species distributed mainly in the Mediterranean. However, genus delimitation has repeatedly shifted over the past two centuries and a general consensus has not been reached so far. The present study investigates the...

Survival in hyperarid deserts is a major challenge for plant life, requiring the development of evolutionary strategies. The Atacama Desert presents harsh conditions such as limited rainfall, crusted soils, high soil salinity, high altitude, and intense solar radiation. These conditions, together with paleoclimatic variability since the past millio...

The binomial Muscari neglectum is commonly used for a widespread Mediterranean geophyte. However, the correct authorship has long been disputed. Here we show, in a rather unusual case, that the authorship must be attributed to Michele Tenore and to the renowned zoologist Giosuè Sangiovanni; the latter is otherwise unlisted among botanical authoriti...

The genus Muscari Miller (1754: 926; Asparagaceae) comprises about 80 species (Böhnert et al. 2023) of mainly spring-flowering geophytes and, like many other genera in the Mediterranean, it has a long and turbulent taxonomic history (Garbari & Greuter 1970, Davis & Stuart 1980, Speta 1982). The most recent attempt to formalize the generic boundarie...

In this study we aim at refining our understanding of the floristic connectivity of the loma-and precordillera floras of southern Peru and northern Chile and the parameters determining vegetation cover in this region. We used multivariate analyses to test for floristic-and environmental similarity across 53 precordillera and loma locations in Peru...

Although the Atacama is the oldest and most continuous dry desert on Earth, organic matter (OM) is ubiquitous in its surface sediments. Today, vegetation growth is restricted to the Coastal Cordillera and the Andean foothills, which are predominantly supplied by fog or rainfall. The sources of OM in topsoils of hyperarid regions and deep sediments...

In hyper-arid habitats vegetation tends to be highly patchy with individual plant populations set widely apart from each other. In the Atacama Desert of northern Chile, rainfall is essentially absent, but fog occurring both at the coast and sometimes reaching inland areas supports patches of vegetation in an otherwise barren environment. Tillandsia...

The Atacama Desert in western South America is considered as one of the driest places on earth, but is nevertheless characterized by surprisingly high species richness and levels of endemism. The plant genus Cristaria (Malvaceae), with ca. 21 species, is one of the most diverse genera of the Atacama Desert, while the much less diverse sister genus...

The Atacama Desert harbors a unique arid-adapted flora with a high degree of endemism, the origin of which is poorly understood. In the Atacama Desert, Zygophyllaceae is represented by five endemic species: one member of Zygophylloideae: Fagonia chilensis; and four members of Larreoideae: Bulnesia chilensis and Porlieria chilensis, the only represe...

The Atacama Desert, located on the western side of the Andes in northern Chile, harbours a range of endemic species adapted to hyperarid conditions. Vegetation is largely restricted to coastal fog oases and the Andean foothills, which are separated by a largely vegetation-free zone. Diversifications have been shown to be surprisingly recent in some...

The Atacama Desert, located on the western side of the Andes in northern Chile, harbors a range of endemic species adapted to hyperarid habitats. Vegetation is largely restricted to coastal fog oases and the Andean foothills, which are separated by a largely vegetation-free zone. In the context of a large-scale project on landscape and biotic evolu...

The genus Atriplex Linnaeus (1753: 1052) (Chenopodiaceae Vent.; placed in Amaranthaceae Juss. s. l. in APG IV 2016) comprises about 300 species distributed mainly in subtropical, temperate, and subarctic regions of the world and is mostly adapted to dry conditions on often saline soils (Sukhorukov & Danin 2009, Kadereit et al. 2010, Iamonico 2013,...

An updated checklist and key to the Peruvian species of Brunellia (Brunelliaceae) is presented based on georeferenced herbarium specimens from Peruvian herbaria, own field collections and online sources. Thirteen Brunellia species are documented as native to Peru, including nine endemic species. Compared to previous studies the average number of Br...

Leopoldia neumannii, a new species from Greece (regions of ipeiros and Peloponnisos) is described and compared with other species of the genus. aspects regarding the taxonomic classification of the Leopoldia group are discussed in light of an unresolved taxonomic situation within the Muscari sensu lato group.

Mutke J, Böhnert T & Weigend M (2017) Save last cloud forests in western Andes. Nature, 541: 157. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v541/n7636/full/541157e.html http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/541157e compare as well: M. Weigend 2002: Bot. Rev. 68, 38–54 Mutke et al. 2014: Front. Genet. 5, 351

Even in times of “big data”, the holdings of local herbaria worldwide are of increasing value for taxonomic discoveries and phytogeographic analyses. Based on our research in Peruvian herbaria we present new records for three species of Symplocos (Symplocaceae) for Peru, which were previously known only from Southern Ecuador.

Land-use change is the main driver of biodiversity loss in the tropics worldwide. Lowland rainforest regions in Southeast Asia are experiencing particularly high rates of large-scale conversion of forests and agroforests into monocultural tree plantations including oil palm and rubber with devastating effects on forest-dependent species. Canopy-dwe...