phone: +32 (0)2 650 21 26

phone: +32 (0)2 650 45 14

e-mail: tdhaijer@ulb.ac.be

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Tania_Dhaijere

Research interests

PhD research project

Biogeography of Atlantic Central Africa - Tridactyle (Orchidaceae): a story of speciation and colonisation at São Tomé and Príncipe

Supervisors: Patrick Mardulyn and Tariq Stévart

This project addresses the evolutionary and biogeographic processes underlying biodiversity patterns in tropical African plants. The experimental model, epiphytic orchids, is a prominent component of tropical rainforests, especially in São Tomé and Príncipe, two oceanic islands recognized as biodiversity hotspots. The genus Tridactyle (Orchidaceae) will be used as a model to test speciation and diversification scenarios in the context of the theory of island biogeography. A taxonomic revision will be first conducted, based upon a molecular phylogeny, also including materials from continental Africa. The possible scenarios will be then examined at the intraspecific and interspecific level. The demographic history of the group will be studied, with a focus on Tridactyle tridactylites. We will test whether the speciation history of Tridactyle species is similar to other closely related Angraecoid orchids and to other families from rainforests.

Publications

D'haijère T, Meerts P, Leguil S, Stévart T (2015) Taxonomy of Atlantic Central African orchids 4. A new species of Tridactyle (Orchidaceae, Angraecinae) from Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. Phytotaxa 212, 141-148.

Communications

Azandi Ngnintedem L*, D’haijère T*, Ječmenica V*, et al. (2016) Progress in taxonomic revisions of African angraecoid orchids: Angraecum, Cyrtorchis and Tridactyle. 6th International Orchid Conservation Congress (IOCC), Hong Kong SAR (People's Republic of China). *These authors contributed equally to this work.

D’haijère T, Stévart T, Meerts P (2014) Taxonomic revision of Tridactyle tridactylites (Rolfe) Schltr. (Orchidaceae). 2nd Annual Meeting on Plant Ecology and Evolution, Louvain-la-Neuve (Belgium).

Educational background

1. •2016 - today: PhD thesis in Evolutionary Biology (Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium)
   

2. •2015 - 2016: Research Assistant (Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium)
   

3. •2012 - 2014: Master in Organism Biology and Ecology, Biodiversity and Vegetal Tropical Environments (BEVT) (Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium)
   

4. •2009 - 2012: Bachelor in Biological Sciences (Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium)