First Cactaceae Symposium

During September 1st-3rd 2021, the Desert Botanical Garden hosted the first-of-its-kind international symposium called “Cactaceae: phylogenetics, evolution and conservation in the genomic era”. The idea of this meeting originated in pre-COVID times, when conferences and academic meetings used to happen in person. A group of cactus scientists coincided in the Latin American Botanical Conference in Ecuador, Quito during 2018. Since then, the necessity of getting together to discuss our research and join future collaborative efforts was clear, but the shape of these interactions was to be determined. Time passed rapidly and the event was delayed, and by mid 2020 we recognized and accepted it had to go virtual. It happened to be the best decision, since this new ease of virtual encounters allowed a complete success, evident by the number of participants and the different nations represented by them.

The symposium gathered nearly 50 attendees from the United States, Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Peru, United Kingdom and Germany. Most of them represent a new generation of ‘cactologists’, approaching their research from many different perspectives (evolution, anatomy, physiology, genetics, ecology, conservation, etc.), as well as using novel technologies and data generating methods. The prolific and enriching discussions that took place helped to clarify future actions that this academic community will take towards understanding and preserving cactus biodiversity, given that this is one of the most diverse and endangered groups of plants in the world.