Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences

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Research group

Spanish

Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation EECO

Academic Unit: Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences

Colombian Ministry of Science

Unrecognized

Call

894 GrupLAC

OECD

Area

Natural sciences

Subarea

Biological sciences

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Strategic Focus

The mission of the EECO Group is to produce and use scientific knowledge in evolutionary ecology and population biology to contribute to decision making regarding the conservation of plant species. The Group implements research projects and monitors threatened species, carries out extinction risk assessments (red lists) of species and diagnoses to identify important areas for plant conservation, and designs and deploys conservation plans for species. This entire work contributes to national and international strategies for biodiversity conservation.

Research Lines and/or Areas

Evolutionary Ecology of Plants.
Plant Conservation Biology.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Group Coordinator

María Cristina López Gallego, Ph.D.

Ph.D. in Conservation Biology.

University of New Orleans, USA.

Coordinator's Email

mariac.lopez@udea.edu.co

Research Group Email

grupoeeco@gmail.com

Scientific Cooperation

Collaborative Relationships

The EECO Group belongs to the National Strategy for Plant Conservation and the Colombian Plant Specialist Group working group of IUNC. For these initiatives, we collaborate with researchers from the Humboldt Institute, the SINCHI Institute of the Ministry of Environment (MinAmbiente), the National Network of Botanic Gardens of Colombia and universities such as Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Universidad del Valle, among others. The EECO Group is also part of the Cycad Specialist Group and the Plant Conservation Committee of IUCN at an international level, in close collaboration with several IUCN organizations and institutions such as the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) and the CNCFlora from Brazil.

Highlighted Projects

Action plan for the conservation of Zamias in Colombia.
Red list of plants in Colombia.
Identification of key biodiversity areas (KBA) for plants in Colombia.

Key Research Findings

The EECO Group participates in the assessment of thousands of plant species in Colombia, published on the SIB Colombia and IUCN Red List portals. These assessments contribute to several species conservation initiatives, including the Resolution of Threatened Species of the Ministry of Environment (MinAmbiente), one of the most important policy tools for biodiversity conservation in Colombia.
The EECO Group coordinates the implementation of the Action Plan for the Conservation of Zamias in Colombia, one of the four conservation plans of the Ministry of Environment (MinAmbiente) along with strategic groups to promote plant conservation in Colombia. As part of this conservation plan, several academic products and didactic tools for environmental education were produced.

Services and/or Products Portfolio

The EECO Group is in a position to advise on the design and implementation of conservation plans for groups of species as well as other conservation strategies, such as management plans for protected areas, restoration plans, and others.