International Joint Reseach Group: Research Consortium on Functional Ecology and Conservation of Cerrado Plants

The extremely species-­‐rich flora of the Cerrado is threatened by land reclamation, environmental changes and exotic plant invasions. The joint research consortium will study the unctional ecology of native and invasive Cerrado plants in relation to availabilities of growth-­‐limiting resources (water, nitrogen, phosphorus) under conditions of multiple species interactions (plant-­‐plant, plant-­‐microbe, plant-­‐pollinator, plant-­‐herbivore).The proposed consortium combines a unique combination of expertise on plant taxonomy, genetics, morphology, physiology, ecology and biogeochemistry that enables novel research approaches. This may yieldnovel insights–and conservation management strategies –around the questions why some plants species become threatened and others a threatin the Cerrado and other Biodiversity Hotspots.