Hanno Schaefer

Technische Universität München | TUM · Plant Biodiversity Research

Remote islands harbour many endemic species and unique ecosystems. They are also some of the world's most human-impacted systems. It is essential to understand how island species and ecosystems behaved prior to major anthropogenic disruption as a basis for their conservation. This research aims to reconstruct the original, pre-colonial biodiversity...

COLE TCH, SCHAEFER H, UZUN A, PALABAŞ-UZUN S (2023) CUCURBITACEAE FİLOGENİ POSTERİ © Cole, Schaefer, Uzun, Palabaş-Uzun 2023 (CC-BY) Turkish version of: COLE, SCHAEFER (2020) CUCURBITACEAE Phylogeny Poster (CucuPP) • kabak familyasına ait oymak ve cinslerin filogenisine genel bir bakış • 2011‘deki moleküler filogenetik verilere dayanan varsayımsal...

Background Despite recent advances, reliable tools to simultaneously handle different types of sequencing data (e.g., target capture, genome skimming) for phylogenomics are still scarce. Here, we evaluate the performance of the recently developed pipeline Captus in comparison with the well-known target capture pipelines HybPiper and SECAPR. As test...

A diverse range of high-throughput sequencing data, such as target capture, RNA-Seq, genome skimming, and high-depth whole genome sequencing, are amenable to phylogenomic analyses but the integration of such mixed data types into a single phylogenomic dataset requires a number of bioinformatic tools and significant computational resources. Here, we...

We study natural DNA polymorphisms and associated phenotypes in the Arabidopsis relative Cardamine hirsuta. We observed strong genetic differentiation among several ancestry groups and broader distribution of Iberian relict strains in European C. hirsuta compared to Arabidopsis. We found synchronization between vegetative and reproductive developme...

COLE TCH, SCHAEFER H, ORTIZ EM (2023) Filogenia de CUCURBITACEAE © Cole, Schaefer, Ortiz 2023 (CC-BY), Spanish version of: COLE, SCHAEFER (2020) CUCURBITACEAE Phylogeny Poster (CucuPP) • sinopsis de la filogenia de las tribus y géneros de la familia de las calabazas • árbol hipotético basado en datos moleculares filogenéticos del 2011 • todos los g...

Background Despite recent advances, reliable tools to handle complex sequencing data (e.g., Targeted-capture, WGS, RNA-Seq, genome skimming) in phylogenomics are still lacking. Here, we evaluate the performance of the recently developed targeted capture pipeline Captus in comparison with the well-known pipelines HybPiper and SECAPR. As test data, w...

COLE TCH, SCHAEFER H, LEANDRO TD, MONTEIRO TC (2023) FILOGENIA das CUCURBITACEAE © Cole, Schaefer, Leandro, Monteiro 2023 (CC-BY), Portuguese version of: COLE, SCHAEFER (2023) CUCURBITACEAE PHYLOGENY POSTER (CucuPP) • visão geral da filogenia das tribos e dos gêneros da família da abóbora • árvore filogenética hipotética baseada em dados filogenéti...

Community-level studies linking plant mycorrhizal status to environment usually do not account for within-plot mycorrhizal status variability; thus, patterns of plant mycorrhizal status diversity are largely unknown. Here, we assessed the relative importance of within- and between-plot variability components in mycorrhizal status and examined how p...

Zehneria is one of the most diverse genera in Cucurbitaceae with 75 accepted species mainly in Southeast Asia and tropical Africa. Here, we describe Zehneria neorensis, a new species from Neora Valley in the mountains of West Bengal, India, which has 7–10 cm long twisted fruiting pedicels, the longest pedicels reported in the genus so far. Based on...

The Tree of Life—phylogeny—provides a powerful tool for understanding the processes regulating life's diversity. Conserving the branches on the Tree of Life might also have practical benefits. Using a comprehensive phylogeny of southern African woody trees and shrubs, and structural equation modeling, we show that human population density correlate...

КОУЛ TКГ, ШАФЕР Г, ГОДИН BH (2023) Филогения Семейства CUCURBITACEAE, Russian version of: COLE TCH, SCHAEFER H (2023) Cucurbitaceae Phylogeny Poster • общий обзор триб и родов семейства тыквенных • гипотетическое дерево построено на основании молекулярно-филогенетических; все роды Cucurbitaceae в нынешнее время повторно анализируются в рамках проек...

Premise of the study: Plants endemic to oceanic archipelagos are suitable for studying evolution, being isolated on substrates of different ages. Evolution has been recent, rendering traditionally-employed sequences insufficiently variable for resolving relationships. This study includes sampling in the genus Tolpis (Asteraceae) from the Azores, M...

We analyzed the evidence interpreted as profound changes of human origin, prior to Portuguese colonization and call into question the conclusions presented by Raposeiro et al. 2021. This analysis and reinterpretation is supported by multiple data sources, including data presented by Raposeiro et al. 2021; similar studies previously carried out on...

While urban beekeeping is on the rise, data on the role of wild bee communities as crop pollinators in cities is still scarce. We analysed wild bee visitation rates on apple, plum, cherry, pear, blackberry, raspberry, and strawberry in a Bavarian city with a very high honeybee density of c. 19 hives/km2. During 137.5 hours of observation time, we o...

Plant mycorrhizal status (a trait indicating the ability to form mycorrhizas) can be a useful plant trait for predicting changes in vegetation influenced by increased fertility. Mycorrhizal fungi enhance nutrient uptake and are expected to provide a competitive advantage for plants growing in nutrient-poor soils; while in nutrient-rich soils, mycor...

Research in Macaronesia has led to substantial advances in ecology, evolution and conservation biology. We review the scientific developments achieved in this region, and outline promising research avenues enhancing conservation. Some of these discoveries indicate that the Macaronesian flora and fauna are composed of rather young lineages, not Tert...

COLE TCH, SCHAEFER H, TURDIBOEV O (2023) CUCURBITACEAE FILOGENETIK POSTER – Qovoqdoshalar oilasi turkumlarini filogenetik va umumiy tekshirsh © Cole, Schaefer, Turdiboev 2023 (CC-BY) • Uzbek version of: COLE TCH, SCHAEFER H (2023) CUCURBITACEAE PHYLOGENY POSTER • qovoq oilasi tribalari va turkumlarining filogenetikasini umumiy tekshirish • molekula...

Populations of Carex sect. Rhynchocystis (Cyperaceae) from the Macaronesian archipelagos (Azores and Madeira) have traditionally been treated either as a variety of the widely distributed Western Palearctic C. pendula, or directly synonymized under it. However, recent phy-logenetic studies have shown that Azorean populations of C. pendula display a...

Aim Environmental niche tracking is linked to the species ability to disperse. While well investigated on large spatial scales, dispersal constraints also influence small-scale processes and may explain the difference between the potential and the realized niche of species at small scales. Here we test whether niche size and niche fill differ syste...

Photosynthesis is readily impaired by high light (HL) levels. Photosynthetic organisms have therefore evolved various mechanisms to cope with the problem. Here, we have dramatically enhanced the light tolerance of the cyanobacterium Synechocystis by adaptive laboratory evolution (ALE). By combining repeated mutagenesis and exposure to increasing li...

A new species from Central Africa, Zehneria palmatiloba, is described and illustrated. It is very unusual in the genus by its deeply 5- to 7-palmatilobate leaves, a character otherwise only occasionally found in Z. racemosa from Angola. It differs from the latter by its non-scabrid and almost glabrous leaves, laxly racemose female inflorescences, a...

COLE TCH, SCHAEFER H (2023) Phylogenie der CUCURBITACEAE • Verwandtschaftsverhältnisse der Triben und Gattungen der Familie der Kürbisgewächse • Hypothetischer Stammbaum basierend auf aktuellen molekular-phylogenetischen Daten • alle Gattungen der Cucurbitaceae sind derzeit im Großscreening des PAFTOL-Projektes, dessen Ergebnisse ggfl. zu Änderunge...

Discontinued! .... older version available from the Ukrainian former collaborators!

There is growing evidence for a link between biodiversity and ecosystem function, and for a correlation between human population and the species diversity of plants and animals in a region. Here, we suggest these relationships might not be independent. Using a comprehensive phylogeny of southern African trees and structural equation modelling, we s...

Genome-wide genotyping and Bayesian inference method (BORICE) were employed to estimate outcrossing rates and paternity in two small plant populations of Tolpis succulenta (Asteraceae) on Graciosa island in the Azores. These two known extant populations of T. succulenta on Graciosa have recently evolved self-compatibility. Despite the expectation t...

COLE TCH, SCHAEFER H, OSMAN AK, BADRY MO >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> (ملصق العلاقات التطورية للفَصِيلَةُ القَرْعِيَّةُ (٢٠٢٣ >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Arabic version of: COLE TCH, SCHAEFER H (2023) CUCURBITACEAE PHYLOGENY POSTER>>>>>>>>>>> (لمحة عامة عن العلاقات التطورية لقبائل وأجناس الفصيلة القرعية (فصيلة اليَقطي ن •

A significant number of bryophyte species are thought to have transcontinental geographic ranges, often with multiple disjunct distribution areas. One of these cases is Epipterygium tozeri (Mniaceae), with a Holarctic distribution and disjunct ranges in western North America, the Mediterranean, Japan and central Asia. Collections from different geo...

Se describe e ilustra Tecunumania stothertiae, una nueva especie de trepadora herbácea de Cucurbitaceae, endémica del occidente de Ecuador. El descubrimiento de Tecunumania stothertiae representa un nuevo registro genérico para Ecuador y América del Sur, y es además un nuevo límite sur para este género, que era previamente conocido como endémico a...

COLE TCH, SCHAEFER H, ZHANG SD (2023) 葫芦科系统发育海报 © Cole, Schaefer, Zhang 2023 (CC-BY), Chinese version of: Cole, Schaefer (2023) Cucurbitaceae Phylogeny Poster • 葫芦科族和属系统发育关系概览 • 建树结果基于2011年分子系统学数据；目前，PAFTOL项目正在对葫芦科的所有属进行重新分析，结果可能导致现有系统树某些拓扑结构的改变 • 及时发布定期更新 • 枝长经过修改，并不代表实际时间尺度 • 关于特征、分布和栖息地的信息来自于FGVP Vol. 10, APweb, 和 www.cucurbit.de • 所有属都链接至www.cu...

This field guide for the solitary bees of Bavaria provides descriptions for 37 genera to identify the 357 nesting species and 120 cuckoo bee species currently known for this region. An additional 40 species with historical records from Bavaria are mentioned without detailed species accounts. Features facilitating the identification of solitary bees...

COLE TCH, SCHAEFER H (2023) CUCURBITACEAE Phylogeny Poster © Cole, Schaefer 2023 (CC-BY) • phylogeny of the tribes and genera of the gourd family • 95 genera, 1000+ species • hypothetical tree based on molecular phylogenetic data (all genera of Cucurbitaceae are currently being reanalyzed within the PAFTOL project; the results may lead to changes o...

Phylogenomic studies have so far mostly relied on genome skimming or target sequence capture, which suffer from representation bias and can fail to resolve relationships even with hundreds of loci. Here, we explored the potential of phylogenetic informativeness and tree confidence analyses to interpret phylogenomic datasets. We studied Cucurbitacea...

Bei den Monokotyledonen haben sich Ölblumen in zwei Familien entwickelt: Iridaceen und Orchideen. Bei ersteren (mit Trichom-Elaiophoren) zweimal, bei letzteren mindestens 10 mal voneinander unabhängig (sowohl Trichom- als auch Epithel-Elaiophoren). Wichtige Vertreter aus beiden Familien, die bereits von Stefan Vogel entdeckt wurden, werden näher da...

Following natural disturbances, additional anthropogenic disturbance may alter community recovery by affecting the occurrences of species, functional groups, and evolutionary lineages. However, our understanding of whether rare, common, or dominant species, functional groups, or evolutionary lineages are most strongly affected by an additional dist...

Melon is an economically important fruit crop that has been cultivated for thousands of years; however, the genetic basis and history of its domestication still remain largely unknown. Here we report a comprehensive map of the genomic variation in melon derived from the resequencing of 1,175 accessions, which represent the global diversity of the s...

Zanthoxylum zanthoxyloides is a West African forest tree that is used for example against malaria and sickle cell anemia in Burkina Faso. The goal of this study was to analyze the genetic and morphological diversity of the species within wild populations in Burkina Faso, where it is potentially under threat due to the uncontrolled harvesting of its...

Abstract: Many oceanic islands have undergone dramatic ecological changes during the last few centuries. Human activities and exotic species have so greatly modifed the landscapes of these islands that the original vegetation is difficult to imagine. Areas of remnant vegetation are therefore used as baselines for restoration. But how representative...

Baker's law posits that self-compatible (SC) plant colonizers of oceanic islands should be more frequent than self-incompatible (SI) colonists because sexually-reproducing populations can originate from a single SC colonizer whereas two or more SI compatible mates are necessary. SC is over represented in insular Asteraceae compared to mainland memb...

p>Thermal melanism theory states that dark-colored ectotherm organisms are at an advantage at low temperature due to increased warming. This theory is generally supported for ectotherm animals, however, the function of colors in the fungal kingdom is largely unknown. Here, we test whether the color lightness of mushroom assemblages is related to cl...

Some of the World's most valuable crops, including watermelon, honey melon, cucumber, squash, zucchini and pumpkin, belong to the family Cucurbitaceae. We review insights on their domestication from new phylogenies, archaeology and genomic studies. Ancestral state estimation on the most complete Cucurbitaceae phylogeny to date suggests that an annu...

New proteins can evolve by duplication and divergence or de novo, from previously non-coding DNA. A recently observed mechanism is for peptides to evolve within a ‘host’ protein and emerge by proteolytic processing. The first examples of such interstitial peptides were ones hosted by precursors for seed storage albumin. Interstitial peptides have a...

Spores of mushroom-forming fungi are thought to be passively dispersed by wind. Studies of the spore morphology and ecological studies suggest, however, that dispersal by animals might also play a role. Since simultaneous and long-term observations of fungus-animal interactions are not feasible, we test the efficiency of time-lapse camera surveys f...

Asteraceae have the most endemic species of any flowering plant family in oceanic archipelagos, and these insular endemics display a higher frequency of self-compatibility (SC) compared to mainland composites. However, little attention has focused on the evolution of selfing in situ in islands. The genus Tolpis (Asteraceae) in the Macaronesian arch...

The genus Saxicola is represented in Bavaria by Whinchat (Saxicola rubetra) and Stonechat (S. rubicola). These two species are characteristic breeding birds in open areas. In the Bavarian foothills of the Alps, they can be found breeding in sympatry, especially in fens. Here, we analyse the population trends of both species in fens south of lake Ch...

Based on six weeks spent in the field on six Cabo Verdean Islands in September/ October 2016 and 2017, we present 18 additions to the checklist of terrestrial biodiversity of the archipelago (ten arthropods, one bird, two fungi, and five flowering plants). Four of them are first records for Cabo Verde, the others for particular islands. Most intere...

Background: The majority of wood decomposing fungi are mushroom-forming Agaricomycetes, which exhibit two main modes of plant cell wall decomposition: white rot, in which all plant cell wall components are degraded, including lignin, and brown rot, in which lignin is modified but not appreciably removed. Previous studies suggested that brown rot f...

PREMISE OF THE STUDY: The domestication history of melon is still unclear. An African or Asian origin has been suggested, but its closest wild relative was recently revealed to be an Australian species. The complicated taxonomic history of melon has resulted in additional confusion, with a high number of misidentified germplasm collections currentl...

The phylogenetic relationships and phylogeography of two relatively rare Macaronesian Lactuca species, Lactuca watsoniana (Azores) and L. palmensis (Canary Islands), were, until this date, unclear. Karyological information of the Azorean species was also unknown. For this study, a chromosome count was performed and L. watsoniana showed 2n = 34. A p...

Islands harbour evolutionary and ecologically unique biota, which are currently disproportionately threatened by a multitude of anthropogenic factors, including habitat loss, invasive species and climate change. Native forests on oceanic islands are important refugia for endemic species, many of which are rare and highly threatened. Long-term monit...

Aim Species–area relationships (SARs) on oceanic archipelagos are shaped at least as much by speciation as by immigration–extinction dynamics. We examine three well‐studied Atlantic archipelagos to quantify the relative contributions of colonization and diversification to individual and whole‐archipelago floras. Location Three Macaronesian archipe...

Zehneria is a genus of small creepers and climbers from the Old-World Tropics and Subtropics. In its broadest circumscription, it comprises up to 94 species and its centre of diversity is Southeast Asia. Zehneria has been split into several smaller genera but this remained controversial mainly due to morphological plasticity of the species groups a...

To investigate whether endangered endemic plants of the Azores are threatened by pollinator limitation, we studied the insect pollinator communities of Azorina vidalii, Euphrasia azorica, Myosotis azorica and Solidago azorica on Corvo Island. We found no evidence for dependence on a specialised pollinator. Instead, we found five to 21 mostly genera...

1) Background Seed-banking (the ability to persist in the soil over many generations) is usually considered as a dormant stage where genotypes are “stored” as a bet-hedging strategy in response to unpredictable environments. However, seed dormancy may instead have consequences for the integrity of the DNA and generate novel mutations. 2) Methods...

An herbarium collection of Solidago from near Pico Island, Azores, Portugal, is reported here to be Solidago chilensis Meyen. One collection (Botelho Gonçalves 1825, BM) was included in a multivariate morphometric analysis comparing S. altissima, S. canadensis, S. chilensis, and S. gigantea. The specimen has glabrous lower and mid stems, glabrous l...

Following disturbances, early-seral stages of forests provide a variety of structures. Whether this variety is a short-term phenomenon or influences forest succession for several decades or even longer is not known. We tested the hypotheses that after spruce dieback caused by bark beetles, a high spatial heterogeneity of stand structures will persi...

Depending on taxonomic concept, the genus Dactyliandra (Cucurbitaceae) comprises up to four species: two from Southwest Africa, D. luederitziana (Namibia) and D. welwitschii (Angola), and two very locally distributed and poorly known taxa from Northeast Africa, D. nigrescens and D. stefaninii. In addition to these African populations, D. welwitschi...

We report 18 species of wild bees plus the domesticated honeybee from the Azores, which adds nine species to earlier lists. One species, Hylaeus azorae, seems to be a single island endemic, and three species are possibly native (Colletes eous, Halictus villosulus, and Hylaeus pictipes). All the remaining bee species are most likely accidental intro...

Sorbus ratisbonensis is one of three endemic representatives of the hybrid subgenus Tormaria (S. aria s.l. × S. torminalis) in the southeastern part of the Franconian Jura. All three endemics settle the slopes of the rivers Naab and Vils. Aim of this study was to evaluate the reproductive mechanism of S. ratisbonensis, to determine the parental tax...

The Cucurbitaceae family contains about 1000 species in 96 genera. Representatives of all genera (except the extinct Khmeriosicyos) and a large percentage of the species have been sequenced for the ribosomal RNA transcribed spacer regions and variable regions of the plastid and mitochondrial genome. These data have allowed to infer evolutionary rel...

In Zehneria thwaitesii long standing uncertainties persisted with respect to taxonomic delimitation. This study is a first step in clarifying the case using both morphological and molecular phylogenetic analyses. We here provide a complete overview on the nomenclatural history of Z. thwaitesii. For the African plants hitherto included in the broadl...

Island plants are frequently used as model systems in evolutionary biology to understand factors that might explain genetic diversity and population differentiation levels. Theory suggests that island plants should have lower levels of genetic diversity than their continental relatives, but this hypothesis has been rejected in several recent studie...

Aim Ecological niche concepts, in combination with biogeographic history, underlie our understanding of biogeographic ranges. Two pillars of this understanding are competitive displacement and niche conservatism. The competitive displacement hypothesis holds that very similar (e.g. closely related) co‐occurring species should diverge, forced apart...

Aim Although existing bioregional classification schemes often consider the compositional affinities within regional biotas, they do not typically incorporate phylogenetic information explicitly. Because phylogeny captures information on the evolutionary history of taxa, it provides a powerful tool for delineating biogeographical boundaries and for...

The species-energy hypothesis predicts that more productive areas support higher species richness. Conversely, when resources are reduced, species richness is reduced. Empirical tests of whether extinctions are predominantly caused by environmental constraints or competitive exclusion are lacking. We experimentally reduced dead wood to c. 15% of th...

Premise of the study: Oceanic island endemics typically exhibit very restricted distributions. In Macaronesia, only one endemic angiosperm species, Ranunculus cortusifolius, has a distribution spanning the archipelagos of the Azores, Madeira, and Canaries. Earlier work suggested possible differences between archipelagos and the multiple origins of...

Knowledge of the Azores flora has historically relied on the study of collections obtained during sporadic and brief visits conducted by collectors and naturalists coming from abroad. However, the far oceanic location of the Azores made it more inaccessible to these early studies than other Atlantic archipelagos, such as the Canary Islands and Made...

Research dedicated to rare endemic plants is usually focused on one given aspect. However, holistic studies, addressing several key issues, might be more useful, supporting management programs, while unravelling basic knowledge about ecological and population level processes. A more comprehensive approach to research is proposed, encompassing: phyl...

Lactuca watsoniana is an Azorean endemic plant, listed as a priority species for conservation. Although there is a considerable amount of data regarding germination in the genus Lactuca, little is known about seed germination in L. watsoniana, which is an important gap for defining conservation strategies. Seed viability (tetrazolium test) declined...

Conservation of plant diversity on islands relies on a good knowledge of the taxonomy, distribution and genetic diversity of species. In recent decades, a combination of morphology- and DNA-based approaches have become the standard for investigating island plant lineages and this has led in some cases to the discovery of previously overlooked diver...

Two endemic species of Leontodon are currently recognized in the Azores archipelago: Leontodon filii and L. rigens. However, there has been confusion regarding the application of these names and field observations and herbarium studies suggested three morphotypes in the islands. Here, we present a taxonomic revision of the Azorean endemic Leontodon...

the taxonomic status of the azorean endemic Viburnum tinus subsp. subcordatum is reassessed, using morphological characters and new molecular data from the ItS region and the trnK intron. a survey of morphological variation supports the recognition of V. tinus subsp. subcordatum as distinct from V. tinus subsp. tinus and the Canary endemic V. rugos...

Goldenrods were first collected in the azores by the German botanist Karl Hochstetter in 1838 and described as an endemic species Solidago azorica. In 1882, asa Gray placed the name into synonymy of the american seaside goldenrod, S. semper-virens. The taxonomic position and status of the plants in the azores remained unclear ever since but recent...