Dr Carolina Tovar
Research Leader
Department
Team
Spatial Analysis and Data Science
Specialism
Biogeography, conservation, biodiversity, ecology, tropical ecosystems
I am a Research leader in Spatial and Data analysis with a main interest in ecology and biogeography. My research focuses on understanding the spatial distribution of plant biodiversity in tropical regions and its primary drivers. My two main research lines are: 1) The role of functional traits and evolutionary history in shaping biodiversity distribution, and 2) Biodiversity responses to past, current, and future environmental changes. I combine modelling techniques with community and functional ecology, spatial analysis, and more recently phylogenetic analysis. I aim to inform the science underpinning plant biodiversity conservation and, also, to improve our understanding of plants that provide ecosystem services.
- BSc, Universidad Agraria La Molina, Peru
- MSc, Universidad Agraria La Molina, Peru
- MSc, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands
- PhD, University of Oxford, UK
- Researcher, Conservation Data Centre, Peru
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Boyacá’s Páramo Plants for Life
Researching the impact of climate change on important plants for the ecosystem services of the páramos of Boyacá, Colombia.
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Where 4x4s fail: using paramotors to reach and protect the fog oases of Peru
Protecting and surveying Peru's fragile lomas ecosystems
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Biodiversity metrics for conservation management in the British Virgin Islands
Generating three biodiversity metrics (phylogenetic diversity, species richness and species threat assessments) for flowering plants of the British Virgin Islands to help direct conservation action and management.
Tovar, C., Melcher, I., Kusumoto, B., Cuesta, F., Cleef, A., Meneses, RI., Halloy, S., et al. (2020).
Plant dispersal strategies of high tropical alpine communities across the Andes.
Journal of Ecology
Cuesta, F.*, Tovar, C.*, LLambí, L.D., Gosling, W. et al. (2020)
Thermal niche traits of high alpine plant species and communities across the tropical Andes and their vulnerability to global warming.
Journal of Biogeography 47:408-420.
Tovar, C., Harris, D.H., Breman, E., Brncic, T. & Willis, K.J. (2019)
Tropical monodominant forest resilience to climate change in Central Africa: a Gilbertiodendron dewevrei forest pollen record over the past 2700 years.
Journal of vegetation science 30: 575-586.
Willis, K., Jeffers, E., & Tovar, C. (2018)
What makes a terrestrial ecosystem resilient?
Science (Perspective) 359: 988-989.
Arnillas, C.A., Tovar, C., Buytaert, W. & Cadotte, M. (2017)
From patches to richness: assessing the potential impact of landscape transformation on biodiversity.
Ecosphere 8: e02004.
Tovar, C., C.A. Arnillas, F. Cuesta C. & W. Buytaert. (2013)
Diverging responses of Tropical Andean biomes under future climate conditions.
PLoS ONE 8: e63634.