Plant Systematics and Evolution - Living at its dry limits: Tilliandsiales in the Atacama Desert

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The northern Chilean Atacama Desert is among those regions on Earth where life exists at its dry limits. There is almost zero rainfall in its core zone, and the only source of water is a spatio-temporally complex fog system along the Pacific coast, which is reaching far into the hyperarid mainland. Hardly any vascular plants grow in these areas, and, thus, it is intriguing to be faced with a vegetation-type build-up by one single and highly specialized bromeliad species, Tillandsia landbeckii Phil., forming regular linear structures in a sloped landscape.

Living at its dry limits: Tillandsiales in the Atacama Desert (this opens in a new tab)
_{Marcus A. Koch, Dietmar Quandt & Alexander Siegmund 
Original Article │ Open Access│ Published: 07 February 2022}

Spatial distribution and interannual variability of coastal fog and low clouds cover in the hyperarid Atacama Desert and implications for past and present Tillandsia landbeckii ecosystems (this opens in a new tab)
_{Camilo del Río, Felipe Lobos-Roco, Claudio Latorre, Marcus A. Koch, Juan-Luis García, Pablo Osses, Fabrice Lambert, Fernando Alfaro & Alexander Siegmund
Original Article │ Open Access│ Published: 15 September 2021}

Climate and coastal low-cloud dynamic in the hyperarid Atacama fog Desert and the geographic distribution of Tillandsia landbeckii (Bromeliaceae) dune ecosystems (this opens in a new tab)
_{Juan-Luis García, Felipe Lobos-Roco, Jan H. Schween, Camilo del Río, Pablo Osses, Raimundo Vives, Mariana Pezoa, Alexander Siegmund, Claudio Latorre, Fernando Alfaro, Marcus A. Koch & Ulrich Loehnert
Original Article│Published: 06 September 2021}

Soil bacterial community structure of fog‐dependent Tillandsia landbeckii dunes in the Atacama Desert (this opens in a new tab)
_{Fernando D. Alfaro, Marlene Manzano, Cristian Almiray, Juan-Luis García, Pablo Osses, Camilo del Rio, Constanza Vargas, Claudio Latorre, Marcus A. Koch, Alexander Siegmund & Sebastian Abades
Original Article│Published: 28 August 2021}

Distribution patterns, ecological niche and conservation status of endemic Tillandsia purpurea along the Peruvian coast (this opens in a new tab)
_{Francisco Villasante Benavides, G. Anthony Pauca-Tanco, C. R. Luque-Fernández, Johana del Pilar Quispe-Turpo, Luis N. Villegas Paredes, Alexander Siegmund & Marcus A. Koch
Original Article│Published: 26 July 2021}

Setting the evolutionary timeline: Tillandsia landbeckii in the Chilean Atacama Desert (this opens in a new tab)
_{Johanna Möbus, Christiane Kiefer, Dietmar Quandt, Michael H. Barfuss & Marcus A. Koch
Original Article│Published: 20 May 2021}

Leaf wax composition and distribution of Tillandsia landbeckii reflects moisture gradient across the hyperarid Atacama Desert (this opens in a new tab)
_{Sergio Contreras, Manlio Landahur, Karla García, Claudio Latorre, Mark Reyers, Janet Rethemeyer & Andrea Jaeschke
Original Article│Open Access│Published: 06 January 2022}

Living at the dry limits: ecological genetics of Tillandsia landbeckii lomas in the Chilean Atacama Desert (this opens in a new tab)
_{Marcus A. Koch, Dorothea Kleinpeter, Erik Auer, Alexander Siegmund, Camilo del Rio, Pablo Osses, Juan-Luis García, Maria V. Marzol, Georg Zizka & Christiane Kiefer
Original Article│Published: 04 November 2019}