Michael David Pirie

Position

Associate Professor

Affiliation

Short info

I am an Associate Professor in Botany and the scientific curator of the Arboretum at the University Gardens, part of the University Museum. I apply systematic research to the curation of living plant collections to advance knowledge of biological diversity and conservation of threatened species.
Research

My research is in plant systematics and evolution, specialised particularly in the flowering plant genus Erica (Ericaceae) and family Annonaceae. My curatorial responsibilities encompass the Arboretum as a whole, with focus on our research and conservation collections, particularly of Ericaceae and Rosaceae, and through involvement in networks such as the Global Conservation Consortia (GCC) of Botanic Gardens Conservation International, for which I coordinate GCC Erica.  

Publications
Lecture
Report
Poster
Academic lecture
Academic article
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
Popular scientific article
Other presentation
Brochure
Academic literature review
Popular scientific lecture

See a complete overview of publications in Cristin.

Selected publications:

  • Pirie MD, Bellstedt DU, Bouman RW, Fagúndez J, Gehrke B, Kandziora M, Maitre NCL, Musker SD, Newman E, Nürk NM, Oliver EGH, Pipins S, Niet T van der, Forest F (2024) Spatial decoupling of taxon richness, phylogenetic diversity and threat status in the megagenus Erica (Ericaceae). PhytoKeys 244: 127–150. https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.244.124565
  • Kandziora, M., Gehrke, B., Popp, M., Gizaw, A., Brochmann, C., & Pirie, M.D. 2022. The enigmatic tropical alpine flora on the African sky islands is young, disturbed, and unsaturated. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 119: e2112737119. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2112737119
  • Pirie, M.D., Blackhall-Miles, R., Bourke, G., Crowley, D., Ebrahim, I., Forest, F., Knaack, M., Koopman, R., Lansdowne, A., Nürk, N.M., Osborne, J., Pearce, T.R., Rohrauer, D., Smit, M., & Wilman, V. 2022. Preventing species extinctions: A global conservation consortium for Erica. PLANTS, PEOPLE, PLANET 4 (4): 335–344. https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp3.10266
  • Pirie MD, Chatrou LW, Maas PJM (2018) A taxonomic revision of the Neotropical genus Cremastosperma (Annonaceae), including five new species. PhytoKeys 112: 1. https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.112.24897
  • Kadereit, G., Ackerly, D., & Pirie, M.D. (2012). A broader model for C4 photosynthesis evolution in plants inferred from the goosefoot family (Chenopodiaceae s.s.). Proc. R. Soc. B. 279, 3304-3311 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2012.0440
  • Pirie, M.D., & Doyle, J.A. (2012). Dating clades with fossils and molecules: the case of Annonaceae. Bot. J. Linn. Soc. 69, 84-116 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8339.2012.01234.x
  • Pirie, M.D., Humphreys, A.M., Barker, N.P. & Linder, H.P. (2009) Reticulation, data combination and inferring evolutionary history: an example from Danthonioideae. Syst. Biol., 58, 612-628 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/sysbio/syp068