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Welcome to Nicola Bergh's homepage.
I am a systematist interested in the taxonomy and evolution of diversity. I am particularly interested in the Asteraceae / Compositae, and in evolution of plant diversity in southern Africa.
Contact me via email at
n.bergh@sanbi.org.za / nicola.g.bergh@gmail.com
ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0475-6222
Google Scholar Profile: https://scholar.google.co.za/citations?hl=en&tzom=-120&user=_mBN-0UAAAAJ
Currently working at BOTANISKA - Gothenburg Botanical Garden, Gothenburg, Sweden.
Research Associate of The Compton Herbarium (NBG)
Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens, Cape Town, South Africa.
 Dimorphotheca_sinuata_Namaqualand |  Stoebe muirii, Stilbaai |  Lasiopogon debilis, Knersvlakte |
|---|---|---|
 Arrowsmithia corymbosa, Drakensberg |  Oedera glandulosa, Hantam |  Stoebe alopecuroides |
I am interested in the generation and maintenance of genetic, phenotypic and taxonomic diversity.
My research has elucidated the phylogenetic relationships, taxonomy and evolutionary history of Cape Asteraceae, particularly the tribes Gnaphalieae (everlastings or immortelles) and Calenduleae (African marigolds, Namaqualand daisies).
AFFILIATIONS AND ACTIVITIES:
BOTANISKA - Gothenburg Botanical Garden, Göteborg, Sweden (2024)
Research Associate, The Compton Herbarium, SANBI Kirstenbosch (employed 2006 - 2023)
Council Member, Southern African Society for Systematic Biology (SASSB) - see link below
Editor, International Journal of Plant Sciences (since 2019).
Honorary Research Associate, Department of Biological Sciences and Bolus Herbarium, University of Cape Town (2007 - 2022)
Publications
Bergh, N. G. & Shaik, Z. Piecing together the taxonomic puzzle: generic delimitation in the Stoebe clade of Cape daisies (Asteraceae: Gnaphalieae) and a synopsis of the species. Accepted for publication 20 May 2024 in South African Journal of Botany.
in press
Chumova, Z, Monier, Z., Šemberová, K., Havlíčková, E., Euston-Brown, D., Muasya, M. M., Bergh, N. G., & Trávníček, P. (accepted). Diploid and tetraploid cytotypes of the flagship Cape species Dicerothamnus rhinocerotis (Asteraceae): variation in distribution, ecological niche, morphology and genetics. Accepted for Annals of Botany Special Issue “African flora in a changing world – integrating multiple dimensions of diversity”.
Blanco-Gavaldà, C., Galbany-Casals, M., Susanna, A., Andrés-Sánchez, S., Bayer, R. J., Brochmann, C., Cron, G. V., Bergh, N. G., Garcia-Jacas, N., Gizaw, A., Kandziora, M., Filip Koláˇr, López-Alvarado, J., Leliaert, F., Letsara, R., Moreyra, L. D., Razafimandimbison, S. G., Schmickl, R. & Roquet, C. Repeatedly northwards and upwards: Southern African grasslands fuel the colonisation of the African sky islands in Helichrysum (Compositae). Plants 2023, 12, 2213, pp. 1 – 24. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12112213
Sadler R., Parker T., Verboom G.A., Ellis A. G., Jackson, M., van Zyl J., Manning J. C., & Bergh, N. G. 2022 A molecular phylogeny of Calenduleae (Asteraceae) supports the transfer of Dimorphotheca polyptera DC. to Osteospermum L. South African Journal of Botany 151: 234 - 245. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sajb.2022.09.001
Rob D Smissen, Randall J Bayer, Nicola G Bergh, Ilse Breitwieser, Susana E Freire, Mercè Galbany‐Casals, Alexander N Schmidt‐Lebuhn, Josephine M Ward. 2020. A revised subtribal classification of Relhaniinae (Asteraceae). Taxon 69(4): 778 - 806. https://doi.org/10.1002/tax.12294
Bergh, N. G. & Manning, J. C. 2019. Achyranthemum N.G.Bergh, a new genus segregated from Syncarpha DC. (Asteraceae, Gnaphalieae). South African Journal of Botany 125: 434 - 456.
Bergh, N.G. & Verboom, G.A. 2011. Anomalous capitulum structure and monoecy may confer flexibility in sex allocation and life history evolution in the Ifloga lineage of paper daisies (Compositae: Gnaphalieae). American Journal of Botany 98 (7): 1113 - 1127.
Andres-Sanchez, S., Verboom, G.A., Galbany-Casals, & M., Bergh, N.G. 2018. Phylogenetic relationships in the basal lineages of Helichrysum (Asteraceae, Gnaphalieae): implications for morphological and chromosomal evolution. Plant Systematics and Evolution. doi: 10.1111/jse.12472
McKenzie, R.J. & Bergh N.G. 2018. Proposal to conserve the name Arctotis calendula (Arctotheca calendula) against Arctotis tristis (Arctotheca tristis) (Asteraceae: Arctotideae). Taxon 67(4): 813 – 814. DOI https://doi.org/10.12705/674.18
Kemp, J.E., Bergh, N.G., Soares, & M., Ellis, A.G. 2018. Dominant pollinators drive non-random community assembly and shared flower colour patterns in daisy communities. Annals of Botany (online early 10 July 2018). https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcy126.
Bergh, N.G., Bentley, J., & Verboom, G.A. 2018. Classification of the Relhania generic group (Asteraceae, Gnaphalieae) revisited using molecular phylogenetics. Phytotaxa 344 (2): 101 – 132. doi: https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.344.2.1.
Bentley, J., Verboom, G.A., & Bergh, N.G. 2017. Species-level phylogenetic analysis in the Relhania clade of ‘everlastings’ and a new generic treatment for species previously assigned to Macowania and Arrowsmithia (Asteraceae: Gnaphalieae). Taxon 66(6): 1421 – 1438. doi: https://doi.org/10.12705/666.9.
Bergh, N.G. & McKenzie, R.J. 2016. A Revision of Heterolepis (Asteraceae: Cichorioideae). South African Journal of Botany 105:194 – 210.
Bentley, J., Klaassen, E.S. & Bergh, N.G. 2015. Philyrophyllum (Asteraceae) transferred from Gnaphalieae to Athroismeae based on phylogenetic analysis of nuclear and plastid DNA sequence data. TAXON 65 (5): 975 – 986.
Bergh, N.G., Haiden, S.A. & Verboom, G.A. 2015. Molecular phylogeny of the ‘Cape snow’ genus Syncarpha (Asteraceae: Gnaphalieae) reveals a need for generic re-delimitation. South African Journal of Botany (100): 219 – 227.
Verboom, G.A., Bergh, N.G., Haiden, S.A., Hoffmann, V. & Britton, M.N. 2015. Topography as a driver of diversification in the Cape Floristic Region of South Africa. New Phytologist 207 (2): 368 – 376.
Bergh, N.G. & Helme, N.A. 2014. A new species of Berkheya (Asteraceae, Arctotideae) from the Northern Cape, South Africa. Bothalia 44(1), Art. #123.
Bentley, J., Verboom, G.A. & Bergh, N.G. 2014. Erosive processses after tectonic uplift stimulate vicariant and adaptive speciation: evolution in an Afrotemperate-endemic paper daisy genus. BMC Evolutionary Biology 14: 27.
Klaassen, E.S. & Bergh, N.G. 2012. Inclusion of the Cape genus Anisothrix in the Namibian-centred genus Pentatrichia (Asteraceae, Gnaphalieae) based on molecular phylogenetic analysis. South African Journal of Botany 78: 2 – 11.
Bergh, N.G., Trisos, C.H. & Verboom, G. A. 2011. Phylogeny of the ‘Ifloga clade’ (Asteraceae, Gnaphalieae), a lineage occurring disjointly in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, and inclusion of Trichogyne in synonymy with Ifloga. TAXON 60 (4):1065 - 1075.
Bergh, N.G., Nordenstam, B. 2010. Psednotrichia perennis (Asteraceae, Senecioneae): A new species from the Huila plateau, Angola. South African Journal of Botany. 76: 369 - 374
Bergh, N.G. & Linder, H. P. 2009. Cape diversification and repeated out-of-southern-Africa dispersal in paper daisies (Asteraceae - Gnaphalieae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution (Special Issue: Origins and Evolution of a Biodiversity Hotspot, the Biota of the African Cape Floristic Region) 51 (1): 5 – 18.
Bergh, N. G., Hedderson, T. A. H., Linder H. P. & Bond W. J. 2007.Palaeoclimate-induced range shifts may explain current spatial patterns of genetic variation in renosterbos (Elytropappus rhinocerotis, Asteraceae). TAXON (56) 2: 393 – 408.
N.G. Bergh, G.A. Verboom, M. Rouget & R. M. Cowling. 2014. Vegetation types of the Greater Cape Floristic Region. Ch. 1, pp. 1-25 in: Allsopp, N., Verboom, G.A. & Colville, J.C. (eds.). Fynbos: Ecology, Evolution and Conservation of a Megadiverse Region. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
G. A. Verboom, H. P. Linder, F. Forest, V. Hoffmann, N. G. Bergh & R. M. Cowling, 2014. Cenozoic assembly of the Greater Cape flora. Ch. 5, pp. 93-118 in: Allsopp, N., Verboom, G.A. & Colville, J.C. (eds.). Fynbos: Ecology, Evolution and Conservation of a Megadiverse Region. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Digital identification tool:
A digital interactive key to the Relhania clade of southern African daisies, using Delta-Intkey.
Bronwynne Busch & Nicola Bergh, January 2013
The Relhania clade is a group of about 120 species of mostly southern-African daisies that forms the sister group to the large, global radiation of gnaphalioid daisies.
This interactive key can be started from any character, and features illustrations of all characters, and all aspects of each species including geographic distribution maps.
Install http://delta-intkey.com/win32/intk32.exe and http://delta-intkey.com/testp/intkey.zip, then extract relhania_clade.zip and double click on intkey.ink to launch the key. Please read the introductory text accessible via the top left book icon on the intkey screen before using the key.
Please note that this is a test version of the key. You can help us to improve it by sending comments and suggestions to: N.Bergh -at- sanbi.org.za
Postgraduate and intern supervision
PHD STUDENT CO-SUPERVISION
Zaynab Shaik (current): Multi-locus species-level phylogenetics and evolution of the Stoebe clade (Asteraceae, Gnaphalieae)
MASTERS STUDENT CO-SUPERVISION
Robert Sadler (current): Phylogeny of the daisy tribe Calenduleae.
Lauren James (current): Taxonomy and reproductive ecology in Osteospermum section Polygalinae (Asteraceae; Calenduleae).
Thaabiet Parker (current): Phylogeny and taxonomy of the Cape marigold genus Dimorphotheca (Asteraceae; Calenduleae).
Zaynab Shaik (2019): Assessing species limits and the determinants of genetic differentiation in the Seriphium plumosum L. complex (Gnaphalieae: Asteraceae), a Cape Floristic Region-centred clade in South Africa.
Joanne Bentley (2010): Phylogenetics and biogeography of the relhanioid paper-daisy lineage (Asteraceae: Gnaphalieae): palaeoenvironmental evolution, migration and speciation in southern Africa and the greater Afrotemperate regions.
BSc (HONOURS) STUDENTS CO-SUPERVISED
Kumreshini Pillay (2021)
Sonja Stock (2021)
Zafar Monier (2021)
Robert Sadler (2019)
Thaabiet Parker (2019)
Klara Beckerling (2018)
Zaynab Shaik (2016)
Campbell Fleming (2015)
Sarah Haiden (2011)
Joanne Bentley (2010)
Christpher Trisos (2007)
Muri Soares (2007)
Andrew Letten (2005)
POST-DOCTORAL FELLOWS CO-SUPERVISED
Dr. Santiago Andrés Sánchez. Smuts Fellowship, 2013 - 2014. Project: phylogenetic and cytogenetic studies in Helichrysum Mill. (Asteraceae, Gnaphalieae) in the Cape.
Dr. Saúl Manzano Rodríguez. Smuts Fellowship, April 2021 - April 2022. Project: COMPOSITAS-SA: COMpositae POllen Study and Identification of Types for Applied Science in South Africa
HERBARIUM INTERNS SUPERVISED
Mandisi Sithole Dec 2006 - Feb 2007 Kirstenbosch Internship Programme
Itumeleng Moroenyane Dec 2006 - Feb 2007 Kirstenbosch Internship Programme
Zaynab Shaik Apr 2018 - Mar 2019. Joan Wrench Kirstenbosch Internship Programme
Lauren James Apr 2021 - Mar 2023. Joan Wrench Kirstenbosch Internship Programme
Khanya Ntondini Apr 2023 - current. Joan Wrench Kirstenbosch Internship Programme.
STUDENT & INTERN OPPORTUNITIES
These opportunities are now closed. Applications for 2022 will open in the second half of 2021.
Joan Wrench Kirstenbosch Scholarship funded projects for 2021
BSc(Hons) 2021: Evolution of fruit form and function in the Cape daisy tribe Calenduleae
BSc(Hons) 2021: Polyploidy in the renosterbos, Elytropappus rhinocerotis
MSc 2021-2022: Phylogeny and taxonomy of the genus Osteospermum (Asteraceae: Calenduleae)
PhD 2021 - 2023: Phylogeny and evolution of the African marigolds (Asteraceae: tribe Calenduleae)
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