I have always been fascinated by the astonishing diversity of plants. Since I was a kid, I have wondered: How many species are there? Where did they come from, and how did such an incredible diversity evolve through time? I explore these questions using integrative taxonomy, genomics, and artificial intelligence data.
Keywords
Angiosperms, Asteraceae (sunflower family), Biogeography, Genomics, Plant Systematics, Taxonomy
Researchinterest
My research interests focus on plant taxonomy, evolution, and historical biogeography. I am interested in how plant diversity and morphological traits have evolved, how species are related to one another, and how plants are distributed across different geographic regions.
The Netherlands is losing biodiversity faster than many other European countries. But how can we effectively protect species if we do not know what is out there? At Naturalis, I study the diversity of the Dutch flora, with a focus on understanding which species occur in the Netherlands and using genomic data and artificial intelligence to develop faster and more accurate ways to identify them.
A second goal of my research is to improve our understanding of the taxonomy of the sunflower family (Asteraceae). With more than 30,000 species, it is the most diverse group of flowering plants and can be particularly challenging to identify at the species level.
Currenttopics
- Plant Identification of Dutch Flora Using Genomics and Artificial Intelligence
- Classification and Evolution of Sunflowers (Asteraceae)
- Editing the second edition of the book Systematics, Evolution and Biogeography of Compositae
- The role of biomes shaping the diversity in palms (Arecaceae)
- Phylogeny of Neotropical Rutaceae (citrus)
Keypublications
Ferreira, P.L., Antonelli, A., Groppo, M., 2021. Touch me carefully: a step towards understanding morphological diversity in the South American spiny sunflowers (Compositae, Barnadesioideae). Phytotaxa 518(2): 109–142. https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.518.2.3
Ferreira, P.L., Dransfield, J., Eiserhardt, W.L., Baker, W.J. 2026. Two new species of Chrysalidocarpus (Arecaceae, Arecoideae, Arecaceae, Dypisdinae). Phytotaxa 758(3): 197–209. https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.758.3.1
Ferreira, P.L., Batista, R., Andermann, T., Groppo, M., Bacon, C.D., Antonelli, A., 2022. Target sequence capture of Barnadesioideae (Compositae) demonstrates the utility of low coverage loci in phylogenomic analyses. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution: 169: 107432. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2022.107432
Ferreira, P.L., Saavedra, M.M., Groppo, M., 2019. Phylogeny and circumscription of Dasyphyllum (Asteraceae: Barnadesioideae) based on molecular data with the recognition of a new genus, Archidasyphyllum. PeerJ 7: e6475. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.6475
Groppo, M., Fabro, A.D., Maeoka, H.M., Nogueira, F.M., Dutra, F.V., Gasparino, E.C., Ferreira, P.L., Miranda, M.D. & Afonso, L.F. (2026) Conchocarpus piranii (Galipeinae, Rutaceae), a new species from Eastern Brazil, with notes on its palynology, foliar and flower anatomy, and phylogenetic position. Phytotaxa 765 (3): 231–245. https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.765.3.2
Zuntini, A.R., Carruthers, T., Maurin, O., Bailey, P.C., Leempoel, K., Brewer, G.E., Epitawalage, N., Françoso, E., Gallego-Paramo, B., McGinnie, C., Negrão, R., Roy, S.R., Simpson, L., Toledo Romero, E., Barber, V.M.A., Botigué, L., Clarkson, J.J., Cowan, R.S., Dodsworth, S., Johnson, M.G., Kim, J.T., Pokorny, L., Wickett, N.J., Antar, G.M., …, Ferreira, P.L., …, Baker, W.J., 2024. Phylogenomics and the rise of the angiosperms. Nature 629: 843–850. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07324-0
Volf, M., Leong, J.V., Ferreira, P.L., Volfová, T., Kozel, P., Matos-Maraví, P., Hörandl, E., Wagner, N.D., Luntamo, N., Salminen, J.-P., Segar, S.T., Sedio, B.E., 2023. Contrasting levels of β-diversity and underlying phylogenetic trends indicate different paths to chemical diversity in highland and lowland willow species. Ecology Letters 26: 1559–1571. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.14273
Antonelli, A., Smith, R.J., Perrigo, A.L., Crottini, A., Hackel, J., Testo, W., Farooq, H., Torres Jiménez, M.F., Andela, N., Andermann, T., Andriamanohera, A.M., Andriambololonera, S., Bachman, S.P., Bacon, C.D., Baker, W.J., Belluardo, F., …, Ferreira, P.L., …, Ralimanana, H., 2022. Madagascar’s extraordinary biodiversity: Evolution, distribution, and use. Science 378: eabf0869. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abf0869
PhDsupervision
Naturalis aims to be a breeding ground for international scientific talent. Therefore, PhD's have a special position in our organisation.
- Éllen da Silva Garcia
