Ricardo Kriebel

PhD Candidate, City University of New York (Lehman College), New York, NY

M.S. in Biology, San Franicso State University
San Francisco, CA (2008)
Expertise: Flora of Costa Rica, Gesneriaceae, Herkogamy, Melastomataceae

Profile

    My research focuses on floristic studies of Costa Rica and adjacent areas. Through photographing and collecting specimens I help to document the occurrence of species in places where their existence is imperiled. In addition, by describing new species of plants to science, I hope to call attention to the rarity of many species.

    I study the “Princess flower” family, Melastomataceae, one of the most diverse flowering plant families in the world. This family is very important ecologically as it provides pollen for bees, which feed it to their larvae, as well as berries for birds. In addition to taxonomic and phylogenetic studies, I am interested in the evolution of reproductive strategies within the family. This has led me to an ongoing project to document the types of herkogamy (separation of sex parts in space within or between flowers) within the tribe Miconieae.

    I am also interested in producing field guides and posters to help people identify and thus get more excited about plants. I have made one field guide for the Gesneriaceae of Costa Rica, and I am working on others for the Acanthaceae and Melastomataceae of Costa Rica.

    My Ph.D. dissertation consists of reconstructing the phylogeny of Conostegia, a genus of shrubs and trees, using molecular and morphological characters. Conostegia is part of the berry fruited and exclusively Neotropical tribe Miconieae of the family Melastomataceae. Most species of the genus are distributed in northern South America, Central America, and the Caribbean. Conostegia has several interesting morphological characteristics worthy of study such as sepals that are fused into a cone and that fall as a unit during flowering, as well as the presence of many stamens. In addition, Conostegia is a model group for the study of herkogamy, because at least three types of herkogamy are present in the group and some species have lost herkogamy altogether. I will be using my phylogenetic hypothesis to study the evolution of herkogamy within Conostegia. In addition, because herkogamy is proving to be useful for distinguishing clades within the whole tribe Miconieae, I will also be looking at the distribution of herkogamy in the Miconieae. I am also documenting floral variation both with SEM images and a morphometric database.

Selected Publications

Daniel, T.F., M.E. Véliz P., and R. Kriebel. 2012. New distribution records of Acanthaceae in Guatemala. Phytoneuron 2012-79: 1–5.

Michelangeli, F. A., Guimaraes, P. J.F., Penneys, D. S., Almeda, F. and R. Kriebel. 2012. Phylogenetic relationships and distribution of New World Melastomeae (Melastomataceae). Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. Early online

Kriebel, R. & Almeda, F. 2012. Five new species of Miconia (Melastomataceae: Miconia) from Costa Rica and Panama. Harvard Papers in Botany 17(1): 53-64.

Kriebel, R. & D. Santamaria. Manuscript accepted. A new species of Blakea (Melastomataceae) from Panama with foliaceous sepal appendages and zygomorphic flowers. Brittonia

Kriebel, R. 2012. Synopsis of the genus Poteranthera Bong. (Melastomeae: Melastomataceae) with the description of a new, apparently pollinator deceiving species. Brittonia 64(1): 6–14.

Prance, G. T., Rodríguez, A. & R. Kriebel. 2010. Dichapetalaceae. Pages 190-202 in B. E. Hammel, M. H. Grayum, C. Herrera & N. Zamora (eds.), Manual de plantas de Costa Rica. Vol. 5. Dicotiledóneas. Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. Vol. 119.

Kriebel, R. 2010. Gesneriaceae. Pages 841-930 in B. E. Hammel, M. H. Grayum, C. Herrera & N. Zamora (eds.), Manual de plantas de Costa Rica. Vol. 5. Dicotiledóneas. Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. Vol. 119.

Kriebel, R. & F. Almeda. 2009. Three new species in the Neotropical shrubby genus Clidemia (Melastomataceae: Miconieae). Brittonia, 61(3): 206-217.

Kriebel, R., Aguilar, R. & F. Almeda. 2008. A new and threatend arborescent Miconia (Melastomataceae: Miconieae) from the Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences ser. 4, 59(10): 489-495.

Fristch, P. W., L. M. Kelly, Y. Wang, F. Almeda, R. Kriebel. 2008. Revised infrafamilial classification of Symplocaceae based on phylogenetic data from DNA sequences and morphology. Taxon 57(3): 823-852.

Almeda, F., R. Kriebel, and G. Umaña. 2007. Melastomataceae. Pages 394-574 in B.E. Hammel, M.H. Grayum, C. Herrera, and N. Zamora, eds. Manual de Plantas de Costa Rica. Vol. 6. Dicotiledóneas (Haloragaceae-Piperaceae). Monographs in Systematic Botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden Vol. 111.

Kriebel, R. 2006. A widespread new species in the Neotropical berry-fruited genus Clidemia and range extension of Ossaea quadrisulca (Melastomataceae: Miconieae). Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci., ser. 4, 52(4): 587-593.

Kriebel, R. 2006. Drymonia tomentulifera sp. nov. de Costa Rica y notas sobre la biologí­a reproductiva en el género Drymonia (Gesneriaceae: Episceae). Lankesteriana 6(2): 43-47.

Kriebel, R. 2006. Gesneriáceas de Costa Rica / Gesneriads of Costa Rica. Editorial INBio. 350 pp.

Kriebel, R. 2006. A new species and notes on Drymonia (Gesneriaceae) from Costa Rica. Novon 16: 66-69.

Kriebel, R., F. Almeda, & A. Estrada. 2005. Two new species of Melastomataceae from southern Mesoamerica. Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci., ser. 4, 52(4): 675-683.

Kriebel, R. & A. Rodríguez. 2005. Revisión del género Dichapetalum (Dichapetalaceae) en Costa Rica. Lankesteriana, 5(2): 121-136.

Kriebel, R. 2005. Una nueva especie y un nuevo registro de Drymonia (Gesneriaceae) en Costa Rica. Lankesteriana, (5)1: 81-83.

Kriebel, R. 2005. A new species of Columnea and range extension in the Gesneriaceae from Costa Rica. Brittonia, 57(1): 39-42.

Kriebel, R., J. Gonzalez & E. Alfaro. 2004. Symplocos retusa (Symplocaceae), una nueva especie de Costa Rica. Lankesteriana, 4(1): 57-59.

Kriebel, R & N. Zamora. 2004. Symplocos striata (Symplocaceae), una nueva especie de la vertiente caribe de Costa Rica. Lankesteriana, 4(3): 171-174.

Kriebel, R. 2004. Two new species and one new name in the Gesneriaceae from Costa Rica. Rhodora, 106(925): 43-51.