IRCEB: A Cross-Disciplinary Study of the Evolutionary Processes that Sustain Rainforest Biodiversity

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This project explores the evolutionary processes that generate and maintain diversity and counteract the effects of extinction. Alternative models for rainforest speciation will be examined through a parallel series of integrated studies of rainforests worldwide. Within a multidisciplinary collaborative framework, these investigators will increase our understanding of how rainforest biodiversity is generated by achieving three goals. First, they will identify general evolutionary processes that promote speciation and phenotypic diversity. Second, they will identify landscape configurations essential to speciation. Third, they will test alternative speciation hypotheses across diverse vertebrate groups on three continents. The study will involve four vertebrate groups (mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians) in tropical rainforests in Australia, West Africa and South America. In addition to the scientific goals of this research there are also conservation-related goals. The investigators will develop conservation strategies that protect key evolutionary processes and develop conservation plans that preserve evolutionary processes as well as current patterns of diversity. The loss of rainforest biodiversity is one of the most critical issues facing humankind. This research will build an understanding of the evolutionary processes underlying rainforest diversity and develop concrete plans to preserve them.