Christopher Baraloto

Christopher is an associate director in the Institute of Environment, leading the Land and Biodiversity Division. He is broadly interested in the mechanisms and underlying patterns of plant species distributions, their relationship with ecosystem structure and function, and their response to resource exploitation and global change. He works primarily in the diverse lowland forests of South America, with principal research sites in French Guiana, Peru and Brazil.

Research Areas

• Functional Traits and Community Assembly
• Plant-insect interactions and beta-diversity of Amazonian tree lineages
• Biodiversity, global change and forest management
• Integrative studies of socio-ecological resilience, conservation and development

Our lab is broadly interested in the mechanisms underlying patterns of plant species distributions, their relationship with ecosystem structure and function, and their response to resource exploitation and global change. We work primarily in the diverse lowland forests of South America, with principal research sites in French Guiana, Peru and Brazil. Current research focuses on four themes.