tiinasarkinen

I'm generally interested in studying patterns of species diversity within and across biomes in the Neotropics. I study various groups endemic to the Andes, with current focus on Solanaceae. I use molecular phylogenetic tools with divergence time analysis with fossil calibrations to explore the tempo and pattern of species diversifications. I also do traditional morphological taxonomy and systematics which when combined with phylogenetic studies, allows a better understanding of species diversity patterns than either approach alone. I work on plants, but comparisons of diversity patterns between plants and plant feeding/depending organisms interests me greatly too. In particular, my key interests at the moment include supermatrix building, community phylogenetics, and comparative phylogenetics in biogeographic studies.