Manuela Sim-Sim

Group Leader

Phylogenetics Conservation Bryophytes Systematics Macaronesia Iberian Peninsula

I received a Ph.D. in Biology (Ecology and Biosystematics) from the University of Lisbon in 1995 and I am currently leading the Natural History Collections & Systematics Research Group of CE3C. I am a professor of Plant Biology at the Sciences faculty, University of Lisbon. My research focuses on systematics, biogeography and ecology of bryophytes from Portugal and Macaronesia.

For many years I have been involved in island and mainland biodiversity research using as model system the Madeira and Selvagens archipelagos and mainland.

I currently collaborate with groups of colleagues principally working on systematics, and global phytogeography perspective of early land plants, with particular emphasis on the Africa-Madeiran elements. These collaborations have included various funded projects focused on colonization patterns and diversification processes of non-vascular plants from Portugal and Macaronesia (in collaboration with M. Stech (Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, The Netherlands); A. Bergamini (Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Switzerland); L. Hedenäs Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm, Sweden); Alain Vanderpoorten University of Liège, Belgium).

My current research is driven by three main objectives: i) Use key native habitats (Portugal mainland, Macaronesia, Portuguese-speaking countries) to identify the main factors driving taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity; ii) Evaluate the impact of ongoing climate change for the future distribution of this group of plants and its implications for the implementation of an integrated management approach; iii) reinforce cooperation with Biodiversity Genomics Europe (BGE) aiming to produce genomic tools for effective conservation of Portuguese biodiversity.