Dissertation Research: Phylogenetic Systematics and Biogeography of Hawaiian Dryopteris (Dryopteridaceae)

物种的边界，进化关系，和夏威夷成员的蕨类植物属鳞毛蕨（鳞毛蕨科）将探讨使用DNA序列数据和形态学数据。 鳞毛蕨属是一个世界性的属，约有250种。9至16特有种和一个非特有种的鳞毛蕨出现在夏威夷群岛。 过去形态学研究划定的物种界限尚不清楚。 这项研究将使用分子和形态学来客观地解决物种划界的问题。 虽然存在关于物种数量的混乱，但在夏威夷观察到的物种多样性似乎是夏威夷群岛多次成功殖民活动的结果。 本研究旨在确定夏威夷鳞毛蕨属植物的种类数量，这些种类之间的进化关系，以及夏威夷鳞毛蕨属植物的地理起源。 虽然一些系统发育和植物地理学的研究已经进行了显花植物在夏威夷，到目前为止，有没有出版的任何蕨类植物组发生在夏威夷。 蕨类植物约占夏威夷原生维管植物种类的1/5，缺乏有关蕨类植物的系统发育信息，这在我们对夏威夷植物群进化的理解中存在很大差距。 此外，拟议的研究是至关重要的岛屿上的进化研究，特别是在夏威夷群岛，因为我们将阐明一组特有物种，可能代表多个独立的殖民地的群岛的系统发育和地理历史。 我们的研究结果将有助于阐明可能对岛屿生物多样性做出重大贡献的地理过程。

Species boundaries, evolutionary relationships, and the historical biogeography of Hawaiian members of the fern genus Dryopteris (Dryopteridaceae) will be explored using both DNA sequence data and morphological data. Dryopteris is a cosmopolitan genus comprised of approximately 250 species. Nine to 16 endemic species and one non-endemic species of Dryopteris occur in the Hawaiian Islands. Species boundaries, as delimited by past morphological studies, are unclear. This research will use both molecules and morphology to address objectively the issue of species delimitations. Although confusion about numbers of species exist, it appears that the species diversity observed in Hawaii was a result of multiple, successful colonization events to the Hawaiian Islands. This study aims to determine the number of Dryopteris species present in Hawaii, the evolutionary relationships among those species, and biogeographical origins of Hawaiian Dryopteris. Although several phylogenetic and biogeographical studies have been performed for flowering plants in Hawaii, to date there are no published phylogenies for any pteridophyte group occurring in Hawaii. Pteridophytes make up about 1/5 of the native vascular plant species in Hawaii and this lack of phylogenetic information about pteridophytes represents a large gap in our understanding of the evolution of the Hawaiian flora. Additionally, the proposed research is of critical importance to the study of evolution on islands in general, and on the Hawaiian Islands in particular, because we will elucidate the phylogenetic and biogeographical history of a group of endemic species that probably represents multiple independent colonizations of the archipelago. Our results will help elucidate biogeographical processes that may contribute significantly to the biological diversity of islands.