Conférence du Pr Jörg Ganzhorn - 13 décembre, 11h00

publié le 5 décembre 2012, mis à jour le 27 décembre 2012 à 11h52min

A l’occasion de sa participation à un jury de thèse le 13 décembre, nous aurons le plaisir d’accueillir Jörg Ganzhorn, professeur à l’Université de Hambourg.

Il donnera une conférence à 11h ce jour là intitulée :

The evolution and demise of lemur diversity

Jörg Ganzhorn 
Hamburg University, Biozentrum Grindel, Martin-Luther-King Platz 3, 20146 Hamburg

Abstract 
Many organisms of Madagascar have restricted geographical ranges. Small scale retreat and expansions of watersheds during climate oscillations might represent a mechanism to explain the process of explosive speciation on the island. 

River catchments with sources at relatively low elevations were zones of isolation and hence led to the speciation of locally endemic taxa, whereas those at higher elevations were zones of retreat and dispersion and hence contain proportionately lower levels of microendemism. The scenario can be illustrated with modern examples of retreat and range expansion of species of mouse lemurs in the wake of modern climate changes. 

While the evolution of Madagascar’s biodiversity is still a fascinating question, the island’s biota are severely threatened with about three quarters of the lemur species categorized as “endangered” or “critically endangered”. Since the conventional conservation activities do not seem to be sufficient to halt the demise of the original ecosystems, new approaches are needed and will be discussed.

Date et lieu : 
Université Paris 6 Jussieu 
salle 101, 1er étage du couloir entre les tours 13 et 14 ; ci-joint le plan.

Contacts : 
 Bruno SIMMEN, CR, UMR7206 
 Sabrina KRIEF​, MC, UMR7206