Biodiversity Seminar: The Comoros Archipelago: A forgotten hotspot of biodiversity in the Indian Ocean

This a joint seminar co-organized by the Forest Health and Biotic Interactions Research Unit and the WSL Biodiversity Center.

The Comoros is an archipelago of four major oceanic islands in the Western Indian Ocean. Unlike most other oceanic archipelagoes, flora and fauna of the Comoros remain poorly studied despite their high diversity and endemism. Today, reptiles may be the best-studied animal group of the Comoros. Reviewing my work of the last decade, I highlight the various biogeographic connections of the archipelago and the different colonization mechanisms of the past. I present ongoing conservation projects for threatened endemics and the monitoring of invasive species, discussing future research and management perspectives. 

I am a lecturer for biodiversity of invertebrates at the University of Zurich (UZH), Switzerland. Previously I worked at the Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change (LIB) (previously Center of Natural History) in Hamburg, Germany, the Zoologische Staatssammlung (ZSM, Bavarian State Collection of Zoology) in Munich, Germany, and at the Institut de Biologia Evolutiva (CSIC-UPF) in Barcelona, Spain. My work is on evolutionary biology, biodiversity, and species conservation.

Our seminars are hybrid. Please send an email to events-biodiversity(at)wsl.ch if you would like to get access to the live stream.

The Biodiversity Seminar Series are organized by the WSL Biodiversity Center. Every two weeks, we aim to host a seminar speaker that presents research or outreach on topics relevant to the biodiversity community at WSL. The seminars are public and are usually broadcasted online.

To find out more about the WSL Biodiversity Center and a complete list of events, please visit our website. 

Please send an email to events-biodiversity(at)wsl.ch if you would like to be updated on the activities of the WSL Biodiversity Center.