Professor Anne Magurran, from the Center for Biological Diversity of the University of Saint Andrews (Scotland) delivers the “Biodiversity change” conference this Wednesday the 27th at 1:00 p.m. in the Charles Darwin Room of the Burjassot-Paterna Campus. The intervention is the event planned this year on the occasion of the of the ecosystems on which we depend,” highlights Anne Magurran.

The expert explains that, as Charles Darwin pointed out, ecological communities are not static, but rather continually replace the identity and abundance of species. In this sense, Magurran will analyze that temporal diversity over a period of time continues to be an undervalued aspect of biodiversity change. It will build on recent work such as the BioTIME database and freshwater sampling on the island of Trinidad, to examine biodiversity change across both dimensions of community structure. “These analyzes reveal interesting and, at times, unforeseen patterns, and I will highlight the important challenge of understanding the causes and consequences of biodiversity change,” highlights the Scottish professor.

The Peregrí Casanova Memorial is organized by the Cavanilles Institute of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, the Faculty of Biological Sciences and the Scientific Culture and Innovation Unit-Chair for the Dissemination of Science of the University of Valencia. The scientists who have participated in previous editions have been Stanley L. Miller (University of California, San Diego), David M. Hillis (University of Texas, Austin), Francisco J. Ayala (University of California-Irvine), José Luis Sanz (Autonomous University of Madrid), Rosemary and Peter Grant (Princeton University), Roger Butlin (University of Sheffield), the evolutionary biologist Rosemary*Gillespie (University of California) and Robert D. Holt (University of Florida).

Introducer of Darwinian ideas

Peregrí Casanova y Ciurana (Valencia, 1849-1919) was professor of Anatomy at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Valencia and introducer of evolutionary ideas. He also organized the tribute to Darwin that took place in the Auditorium of the University of Valencia in 1909, on the occasion of the centenary of the birth of the English scientist. His publications and work covered various fields of Medicine, especially Morphology. A student of Ernst Haeckel, he was a faithful follower of Darwin and a rigorous evolutionist, and made Valencia a peninsular center for the dissemination of evolutionism. The Health Sciences Library of the University of Valencia bears his name.

More information: http://ir.uv.es/wQ1Rhtr

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