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Current fern research

Current Botany Department research projects address several major questions concerning the origin and conservation of fern diversity through time.

  • Harald Schneider collecting ferns in the Mascarenes
    The evolution of fern diversity

    This project aims to explore the origin of fern diversity by integrating a variety of information such as geographic distribution and physiological variation.

  • Leaves of the royal fern, Osmunda regalis
    Phylogeography of European ferns

    These studies are primarily aimed at understanding how central European fern diversity recovered after the last maximum glaciations.

  • Ophioglossum azoricum
    Fern diversity on oceanic islands

    Oceanic islands are often valued as Darwinian laboratories. In this project we investigate the evolution of fern diversity by studying specimens on Mauritius and Réunion.

  • Copper plate of single-sorus spleenwort, Asplenium monanthes
    Apomixis in ferns

    This project investigates the evolution of apomixis in the Asplenium monanthes complex, with a view to understanding the role of apomixis in assembling modern fern diversity.

  • Forest in Madagascar
    Ferns and diversity hotspots

    Collaborative research addresses the assemblage and conservation of fern species diversity in biodiversity hotspots such as Madagascar and southwest China.

  • The fern Asplenium aethiopicum
    Taxonomy and classification

    Aspleniaceae, Polypodiaceae, Cyatheaceae and Pteridaceae are among the selected fern families and genera that Museum staff are currently conducting taxonomic studies on.

  • Diphasiastrum madeirense
    Homoploid hybrid speciation

    The Diphasiastrum genus is being studying by an international team that are seeking to clarify whether it undergoes homoploid hybrid speciation.

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