Research Staff

Iván with Espeletia Mutis ex Bonpl. (Asteraceae), in the Páramo de Sumapaz (Colombia)

Iván Jiménez, Ph.D.
Associate Scientist
Center for Conservation and Sustainable Development

office phone: + 1 (314) 577-5100 ext. 6566
fax: + 1 (314) 577-9596
email: ivan.jimenez@mobot.org

Missouri Botanical Garden
4344 Shaw Blvd.
St. Louis, MO 63110
USA

Education
Ph.D., University of Missouri-St. Louis, 2004
B.S., Universidad de los Andes (Bogotá, Colombia), 1991


 

I am interested in understanding the determinants of the abundance and distribution of organisms at a variety of spatial scales, ranging from the small extents on which foraging theory focuses, to the broad geographic extents characteristic of macroecology


 

Research Emphases I am currently focusing on testing theory that attempts to explain spatial patterns of diversity and the size, structure and dynamics of geographic ranges of taxa. Spatial patterns of diversity are expressions of how the geographic ranges of taxa overlap. Understanding these patterns is central to the practice of conserving biodiversity. Specifically, spatial patterns of diversity (including richness, endemism and taxa turnover) determine how limited resources for the conservation of biodiversity should be distributed spatially to obtain the highest yield in terms of number of taxa protected (or other biodiversity metrics such as phylogenetic diversity). Furthermore, studies on the determinants of diversity patterns provide insights that help inform the conservation and management of ecological and evolutionary processes responsible for the creation and maintenance of biodiversity patterns
Selected Publications
Thomas, G., Sucher, R., Wyatt, A. and Jiménez, I. 2022. Ex situ species conservation: Predicting plant survival in botanic gardens based on climatic provenance. Biological Conservation 265: 109410. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2021.109410 Osazuwa-Peters O.L., Stevens W.D., Jiménez I. 2018. Using museum specimens to estimate broad-scale species richness: Exploring the performance of individual-based and spatially explicit rarefaction. PLoS ONE 13(10): e0204484. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0204484. Serrano, J. Richardson, J.E., Pennington, T.D. Cortes-B, R., Cardenas, D. Elliott, A., I. Jiménez. 2018. Biotic homogeneity of putative biogeographic units in the Neotropics: A test with Sapotaceae. Biodiversity and Distributions 24: 1121-1135. DOI: 1.0.1111/ddi.12752. Cadena, C. D., F. Zapata. and I. Jiménez. 2017. Issues and Perspectives in Species Delimitation using Phenotypic Data—Atlantean Evolution in Darwin’s Finches. Systematic Biology, syx071, https://doi.org/10.1093/sysbio/syx071 Loza, M. I., I. Jiménez, P. M. Jørgensen, G. A. Arellano, M. J. Macia, V. W. Torrez, R. E. Ricklefs. 2017. Phylogenetic patterns of rarity in a regional species pool of tropical woody plants. Global Ecology and Biogeography DOI: 10.1111/geb.12615. Osazuwa-Peters, O. L., I. Jiménez, B. Oberle, C. A. Chapman, A. E. Zanne. 2015. Selective logging: do rates of forest turnover in stems, species composition and functional traits decrease with time since disturbance? - A 45 year perspective. Forest Ecology and Management 357: 10-21. Myers, J. A., J. M. Chase, R. M. Crandall and I. Jiménez. 2015. Disturbance alters beta-diversity but not the relative importance of community assembly mechanisms. Journal of Ecology 103: 1291-1299. Sheth, S. N., I. Jiménez and A. L. Angert. 2014. Identifying the paths leading to variation in geographical range size in western North American monkeyflowers. Journal of Biogeography 41: 2344–2356. Jiménez, I. and R. E. Ricklefs. 2014. Diversity anomalies and spatial climate heterogeneity. Global Ecology and Biogeography 23: 988-999. Myers, J., J. Chase, I. Jiménez, P. Jørgensen, A. Araujo-Murakami, N. Paniagua-Zambrana, R. Seidel. 2013. Beta-diversity in temperate and tropical forests reflects dissimilar mechanisms of community assembly. Ecology Letters 16: 151–157. Sheth, S.,  T. Consiglio,  L. G. Lohmann and I. Jiménez. 2012. Understanding bias in geographic range size estimates. Global Ecology and Biogeography 21: 732–742. Zapata, F. and I. Jiménez. 2012. Species delimitation: inferring gaps in morphology across geography. Systematic Biology 61: 179-194. Distler, T., P. M. Jørgensen, A. Graham, G. Davidse and I. Jiménez. 2009. Determinants and prediction of broad scale plant richness across the Western Neotropics. PDF. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 96: 470-491. Jiménez, I., T. Distler and P. M. Jørgensen. 2009. Estimated plant richness pattern across northwest South America provides similar support for the species-energy and spatial heterogeneity hypotheses. Ecography 32:433-448. Sheth, S., T. Consiglio, L. G. Lohmann and I. Jiménez. 2008. Effects of detectability on estimates of geographic range size in Bignonieae (Bignoniaceae). Conservation Biology 22:200-211. Loiselle, B. A., P. M. Jørgensen, T. Consiglio, I. Jiménez, J. G. Blake, L. G. Lohmann, and O. M. Montiel. 2008. Predicting species distributions from herbarium collections: does climate bias in collection sampling influence model outcomes? Journal of Biogeography 35:105-116. Cadena, C. D., R. E. Ricklefs, I. Jiménez, E. Bermingham. 2005. Is speciation driven by species diversity? Nature 438, E1-E2, doi:10.1038/nature04308. Jiménez, I. y C. D. Cadena. 2004. Por qué no liberar animales silvestres decomisados. PDF. Ornitología Colombiana 2:53-57. Jiménez, I., G. A. Londoño, and C. D. Cadena. 2003. Efficiency, bias, and consistency of visual and aural surveys of curassows (Cracidae) in tropical forests. Journal of Field Ornithology 74:210-216. Jiménez, I., J. L. Parra, M. Agudelo, G. A. Londoño, and Y. Molina. 2001. Temporal variation in the diet of black curassows. Pages 195-211 in D. M. Brooks and F. Gonzalez-Garcia, eds. Cracid ecology and conservation in the new millennium. Houston Museum of Natural Science, Houston. Cadena, C. D., J. L. Parra, C. A. Mejía, M. Alvarez, I. Jiménez, M. Santamaria, C. A. Botero, G. D. Mejia, A. M. Umaña, J. Aldana, G. A. Londoño and A. Calixto. 2000. The birds of Tinigua National Park, Colombia: an overview of ornithological research at the CIEM. Cotinga 13:46-54. Jiménez, I., J. Aldana, C. D. Cadena, and J. Forero. 1998. How does the diet of a curassow vary within a week? Field Studies of Fauna and Flora, La Macarena, Colombia 12:33-40. Jiménez, I. , and C. A. Mejía. 1998. Breeding biology of Hoploxypterus cayanus (Charadriidae) at the Rio Duda. Field Studies of Fauna and Flora, La Macarena, Colombia 12:1-8. Alvarez, M., I. Jiménez, C. A. Mejía, and M. Santamar ía. 1993. Bird species at the CIPM, Tinigua National Park: a partial list. Field Studies of New World Monkeys, La Macarena, Colombia 8:33-40.