[Ccb_faculty] Fwd: THIS THURSDAY @ 7PM! - CalBotSoc Botany Speaker: Dr. Tito Abbo

[Amy Litt]

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Membership <membership at calbotsoc.org>
Date: Mon, Aug 10, 2026 at 1:00 PM
Subject: THIS THURSDAY @ 7PM! - CalBotSoc Botany Speaker: Dr. Tito Abbo
To: <amy.litt at ucr.edu>


August 13, 7-8 pm - "L’enfer de Michel Adanson: adventures in diverse,
rare, endangered, hybrid and sometimes even paraphyletic manzanitas"
*THURSDAY, August 13, 2026 7-8 pm PT*

Botany Speaker

*Tito Abbo*
*"L'enfer de Michel Adanson: adventures in diverse, rare, endangered,
hybrid and sometimes even paraphyletic manzanitas"*
*TALK DESCRIPTION*

Manzanitas are well-known for their taxonomic complexity, which is due to a
variety of factors including high diversity, hybridization, unique
morphology, and historical differences of opinion among taxonomic experts.
Their genetics are also complex and early studies found minimal
phylogenetic resolution. This status-quo poses challenges for conservation.
Manzanitas are often considered difficult to identify and with the
additional factor of hybridization, it can be unclear whether the
morphological ambiguity of certain individuals is due to errors in taxonomy
or hybridization. A taxonomic treatment supported by molecular data is
therefore imperative for prioritizing the allocation of conservation
resources on protecting valid taxa. Recent genomic data shows substantial
progress towards phylogenetic resolution but numerous challenges remain.
The data provides different information depending on the scale of
observation. Examining the genus as a whole provides insight into manzanita
diversification, and manzanitas appear to have arisen in a rapid radiation
during the middle Miocene. However, species frequently resolve as
paraphyletic suggesting that hybridization is often cryptic, but
hybridization can only be inferred indirectly. Hybridization is nonetheless
directly observable with broad sampling at the population scale. The
additional information gained by sampling large numbers of individuals
across a limited geographic scope enables the discovery of novel taxonomic
information and can be used to settle longstanding taxonomic controversies
in manzanitas. The cons of these types of studies are that they require
significant time and labor but do not provide context for the genus across
its range. Thus, future manzanita research should focus on unusual/unclear
groupings in the genus-wide phylogeny as targets for informative smaller
scale studies with the long term aim of integrating results at multiple
scales of observation.
Information and Zoom Link
<https://us.list-manage.com/gyy8muyHEU0?e=b69ac08598&c2id=0e40b0cfa1225b9e5d4df04947f9669b>
*BIO*

Tito is a recent PhD graduate with interest in plant phylogenetics,
hybridization, taxonomy, and herbarium curation, specializing in
manzanitas. He developed his passion for manzanitas during his
undergraduate studies at San Francisco State University (SFSU) learning
plant ecology from V. Thomas Parker and plant taxonomy from Robert
Patterson. He learned research skills studying ecological physiology with
his advisor Kevin Simonin. He earned his BS in Biology from SFSU in 2019
and went on to pursue his PhD at UC Riverside where he researched the
phylogeny of manzanitas with his advisor Amy Litt. During his research he
began to see manzanitas as a model system for studying complex
diversification in the presence of hybridization. He is interested in the
complications that hybridization poses for traditional Linnaean taxonomy
which in turn creates challenges for delimiting species boundaries and the
identification of discrete species in the context of conservation. He hopes
to continue this research and his ultimate goal is to become an herbarium
curator.
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*Upcoming Botany Talks: *

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