International Research Fellowship Program: Rapid Speciation in the New Zealand Alpine Flora: An Integrated Approach to Assessing the Impacts of Selective Forces

[401830]国际研究奖学金计划使美国科学家和工程师能够到国外进行3至24个月的研究。该计划的奖励为联合研究提供了机会，并利用独特或互补的设施、专业知识和国外的实验条件。该奖项将支持Heidi M. Meudt博士与新西兰北帕默斯顿梅西大学的Peter Lockhart博士以及新西兰惠灵顿维多利亚大学的Phil Garnock-Jones博士共同开展为期22个月的研究。基于PI从她的论文工作中获得的对eurisia（车前花科）的系统学和生物地理学的广泛知识，PI正在使用新西兰的eurisia物种作为研究系统，以评估地质，遗传和生态因素对新西兰快速形成的高山植物群的进化史的相对影响。PI具体处理以下三个目标：(a)在构造和气候变化的时间框架内描述新西兰山区Ourisia辐射格局；(b)调查可能引致辐射的生态因素；(c)在缺乏专门传粉者的情况下，对维持物种屏障很重要的其他选择力的调查。一种综合方法正在进行中，该方法结合了田间工作、温室杂交研究、遗传研究（AFLP和ISSR）、地理信息系统（GIS）和统计假设检验的数据。新西兰独特的地质历史和生态多样性使其成为研究植物物种辐射及其潜在原因的理想场所，这也是主持人菲尔·加诺克-琼斯博士和彼得·洛克哈特博士积极研究项目的重点。该项目包括（志愿者）本科生助理的培训和宝贵的协助，以进行实地研究和交叉研究，以及收集和分析分子数据。在这个项目中培训一名美国妇女（PI）意义重大，因为研究新西兰物种形成问题的研究人员很少是美国人或妇女。她学到的技能将适用于在其他地方解决类似的问题，比如南美安第斯山脉，PI在那里也有研究和语言经验。

0401830MeudtThe International Research Fellowship Program enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct three to twenty-four months of research abroad. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions abroad.This award will support a twenty-two-month research fellowship by Dr. Heidi M. Meudt to work with Dr. Peter Lockhart at Massey University in Palmerston North, New Zealand, and with Dr. Phil Garnock-Jones at Victoria University on Wellington, New Zealand.Building upon the PI's extensive knowledge of the systematics and biogeography of Ourisia (Plantaginaceae) from her dissertation work, the PI is using the New Zealand species of Ourisia as a study system to assess the relative impact of geological, genetic and ecological factors on the evolutionary history of the rapidly speciating alpine flora of New Zealand. The PI is specifically addressing the following three goals: (a) characterization of the pattern of radiation of Ourisia in the mountains of New Zealand within a temporal framework of tectonic and climatic change; (b) investigation of the ecological factors that may be driving radiation; and (c) investigation of other selective forces that are important for maintaining species barriers in the absence of specialized pollinators. An integrated approach is underway that combines data from field work, greenhouse crossing studies, genetic studies (AFLP and ISSR), geographic information systems (GIS), and statistical hypothesis testing. New Zealand's unique combination of geological history and ecological diversity make it the perfect place to investigate plant species radiations and their underlying causes, which is the focus of the active research programs of the hosts, Dr. Phil Garnock-Jones and Dr. Peter Lockhart.This project involves the training and valuable assistance of (volunteer) undergraduate assistants for conducting field studies and crossing studies, and gathering and analyzing molecular data. The training of an American woman (the PI) during this project is significant since few researchers working on questions of New Zealand speciation are Americans or women. The skills she learns will be applicable to address similar questions in other places such as the South American Andes, where the PI also has research and language experience.