Plant Systematics, Conservation Biology, and Ethnobotany

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Dr. Carmen Ulloa

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Dr. Carmen Ulloa

Associate Curator, MBG

Research Interests

• Andean Flora (phytogeography, floristics)
• Neotropical Berberidaceae, Andean Melastomataceae
• Flora Mesoamericana (co-editor)

Web Page: MBG

1.) Plants from the Andes. The Andes mountains are one of the most diverse regions of the world. They are still largely unexplored and new species continue to be discovered. Carmen Ulloa has conducted fieldwork for over two decades in the páramos (vegetation above tree line) and Andean forests of Ecuador. Working with colleagues at Ecuadorian institutions, they have generated checklists, field guides, described species new to science, Red Data books, flora accounts. Ulloa is looking for undergraduates to participate in producing interactive keys of Andean plants. Students will become familiar with Andean biogeography, review relevant taxonomic literature, examine recent collections from Ecuador, and learn to identify specimens using keys and herbarium collections; they will use these tools in preparing online keys to identification. Students will assist Ulloa with the technical description, preparation of distribution maps and images. 

2.) Seed and trichome Variation in Melastomataceae. Ulloa is also looking for an undergraduate to conduct a scanning electron microscope survey of seed and trichome characters in the large tropical plant family Melastomataceae. Minute leaf characters and seed structures will be examined with a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Carmen Ulloa is a member of an international collaborative network to produce and updated lists of species in the Melastomataceae. 

Selected Publications 

• Ulloa Ulloa, C., S. Álvarez Molina, P.M. Jørgensen and D. Minga. 2009. Guía de 100 plantas silvestres del páramo del Parque Nacional Cajas/Cajas National Park field guide of 100 wild plants of the páramo. Spanish/English edition. Pp. 1–90. ETAPA, Cuenca. [Second edition]
• Ulloa Ulloa, C. & J. Homeier. 2008. Meriania franciscana (Melastomataceae), una especie nueva de los Andes de Ecuador. Anales Jard. Bot. Madrid 65(2): 383-387.
• Ulloa Ulloa, C. & S. Achá. 2010. Meriania horrida (Melastomataceae), una especie nueva de Bolivia. Novon 20: 371-375.
• Sklenář, P., J. L. Luteyn, C. Ulloa Ulloa, P. M. Jørgensen and M. O. Dillon. 2005. Flora genérica de los páramos - Guía ilustrada de las plantas vasculares. Memoirs of The New York Botanical Garden 92. 520 Pp.
• Aguilar, Z., C. Ulloa and P. Hidalgo, 2009. Guía de las Plantas Útiles de Zuleta, Ecuador. Proyecto de Manejo y Aprovechamiento Sustentable de Alpacas en los Paramos de Zuleta. PPA-Ecociencia, Quito. 99pp.

Dr. Carmen Ulloa Dr. Carmen Ulloa
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