Begonia cumingii, a delicate Begonia with pale green leaves and bright red venation on a black background

Dr Mark Hughes

Dr Mark Hughes, Taxonomy Research Leader (Southeast Asia)

Email: Mark Hughes
Phone: +44 (0)131 248 2893

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Southeast Asia is home to 15% of the worlds tropical forests, and has four globally important biodiversity hotspots. This unique mega-diversity is at the forefront of the biodiversity crisis due to the large-scale threat of land use change from logging, mining and expansion of palm oil plantations: habitat and biodiversity loss rates are the highest in the world. Climate change is compounding this threat, already increasing the impact of fires during El Niño-induced droughts. However, the diversity of the region is not well understood, with baseline estimates of plant species numbers varying from 25,000 to 45,000. We need to better understand the globally important plant diversity of the region and the threats it is facing, and use this knowledge to support meaningful and sustainable conservation action, with a particular focus on economically and ecologically important plants. To slow and prevent biodiversity loss, there is a need to fill knowledge gaps of the huge plant diversity present.

The aims of the Southeast Asia team at the garden are
1. Taxonomic research. Understanding species. Provide new open access taxonomic data for poorly known species and habitats of ecological and economic importance.
2. Macroecological research. Understanding diversity. Understand large scale species distribution patterns, the processes that have given rise to these, and the threats they are facing, in order to support conservation and restoration.
3. Conservation. Contribute to species level conservation prioritisation through threat assessments, and towards the resilient restoration of forest biomes through evidence-based guidance on species selection for restoration projects.

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