I am a visiting PhD student at Naturalis. I work with mimosoid legumes (Fabaceae) - a lineage of plants that shows extraordinary species- and morphological diversity, and is spread across all major tropical biomes. For my PhD, I assembled a large functional trait database for all species, including traits on leaves, fruits, growth form, and spinescence. I am particularly interested in the macroecology and macroevolution of these traits, and how biotic (e.g. megaherbivores) and abiotic (e.g. climate, fire) have shaped these traits through space and time.
Keywords
Plant evolution, functional trait, mimosoid legumes, trait evolution, megaherbivores, frugivory