Luis Roberto Gonzalez Torres: Orchids of Cuba

Date: 7:30pm-9:30pm, Jan 11, 2017

This talk is an introduction to the orchid flora of Cuba. It provides an overview to the orchid family in the island that is one of the plant families with higher number of species in the country. The global relevance of the orchid flora of Cuba is remarkable since the island supports between 315 and 330 species, more than half of the orchid species occurring in the Caribbean Biodiversity Hotspot (594). A total of 102 species of the orchids occurring in Cuba are exclusive to the country. The genera Pleurothallis (36 spp.), Epidendrum (27) and Encyclia (20) are the ones with larger number of species. Cuban orchids occur in a wide range of ecosystems from coastal thickets to inland plains, and from the dry forest in the lowlands to the cloud forests up in the mountains. The conservation situation of Cuban orchids is not totally known but recent assessments suggests that many species are threatened by deforestation, habitat degradation and overexploitation. Planta! - the PlantLife Conservation Society is promoting projects for preserving native species and relieve collection pressure on threatened species. Dr. Luis Roberto Gonzalez Torres graduated from college in 2001 and went on to complete an M.Sc. in botany in 2004 and a Ph.D. in biology in 2010. He taught plant sciences courses at the Faculty of Biology, University of Havana. He also lectured in plant ecology and conservation to postgraduate students at the National Botanic Garden, University of Havana. Luis has disseminated his research results through talks at 25 scientific meetings and in 21 papers. He has won four awards, 15 grants, and two scholarships. In 2014, he won the Whitley Award, an international conservation prize for his work promoting the conservation of Cuban plant life. Luis was elected “Junior Associate” of the Cuban Academy of Sciences in 2012. He was appointed Chair of the Cuban Plant Specialist Group by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Luis is currently lecturer at the Department of Botany, University of British Columbia.