2023 Spring Seminar Series Presents

Dr. William Farfan-Rios

Biodiversity Fellow in Forest Ecosystems in the Andes-Amazon
Center for Energy, Environment, and Sustainability
Wake Forest University, NC 27106

Research Associated
Scientific Institute UAC
Andean University of Cusco, CUZ

WHEN:  March 17, 2023, at Noon
WHERE:   Seminar will be presented via Zoom and in person in the North Classroom, Room 1207.

Everyone is welcome to join the seminar, please email jacki.craig@ucdenver.edu to receive the Zoom link. Requests can be submitted any time before the seminar but not after 10:00am the day of the seminar.

What happens when biodiversity hotspots get hotter?

The eastern slope of the Andes and adjacent Amazon harbors Earth’s highest biodiversity and supports exceptional endemism of plants and vertebrates and are among the biodiversity hotspots most threatened by climate change. In the eastern slopes of the Andes, temperature has increased approximately 0.03-0.05 °C year -1 since the 1950s and is predicted to increase 2-7 °C over the next century. This will result in novel climates, presenting unprecedented challenges to Andean and Amazonian plant species. Here we will give an overview of how the Amazonian and Andean forests are responding to rapid warming using long-term inventory forest plot data along a 3500 m elevational gradient to enhance our understanding of tropical forest responses to climate change in earth’s most species-rich biodiversity hotspots.