International Research Fellowship Program: Diversification of Amazonian Tree Lineages

0402061国际研究奖学金计划使美国科学家和工程师能够在国外进行三到二十四个月的研究。 该奖项将资助Paul Fine博士获得为期22个月的研究奖学金，与Asuncion Cano博士一起在秘鲁利马的圣马科斯国立大学（Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos）进行研究。 该项目除获得该奖项外，还将得到密歇根大学研究员协会研究金的支持，项目名称为“亚马逊河树木谱系的多样化：环境变化与地理距离的作用”。“该项目的目标是研究栖息地特有树木姐妹种群之间的进化关系，以揭示Protium属（Burseraceae）物种形成的最终原因，Protium是亚马逊河树木的一个常见群体，其中包括许多土壤专家。 大多数进化生物学家认为，异域物种形成（物种形成的空间隔离手段）是多样化的主要机制。另一种假设，即物种分化的手段parapatric形成（物种形成由于当地适应环境变化的空间隔离的情况下）是理论上的声音，已被最近的实证研究所支持，但仍然未经检验的亚马逊trees.This是第一次直接评估parapatric形成在亚马逊森林。首先，土壤异质性和地理距离的相对重要性正在评估的四个常见的亚马逊树种，有亚种或品种专家的白色砂和粘土的人口结构。 接下来，土壤专业化所需的性状正在测量，并量化的白色砂和粘土种群的相邻种群之间的基因流的存在，看看这些物种是否表现出形态上的分歧，在两种土壤类型，即使在面对种群之间的基因流。揭开这些密切相关的类群的系谱提供了研究微观和宏观进化过程的整合的机会-一个物种内的种群如何由于环境变化和地理距离而细分，以及该组物种形成的最终原因。 卡诺主任在国家植物标本馆提供了宝贵的经验，该标本馆收藏了许多来自新热带地区的重要藏品。该项目的广泛影响之一是在秘鲁的国家植物标本馆试验推广新的数据库技术。 这个项目代表了一个独特的机会，建立未来的研究基础，为学生和教师在世界各地的秘鲁的热带植物的综合遗传学，地理学和生态学研究。 总之，该项目有助于更好地了解导致亚马逊树木多样化的过程，并促进了秘鲁、巴西和美国的科学家和学生之间的合作。

0402061FineThe 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. Paul Fine to work with Dr. Asuncion Cano at the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos in Lima, Peru. This project will receive support from a University of Michigan Society of Fellows fellowship in addition to this award.The project is entitled "The diversification of Amazonian tree lineages: the role of environmental variation versus geographic distance." The goal of the project is to examine evolutionary relationships between sister populations of habitat endemic trees to reveal the ultimate causes of speciation in the genus Protium (Burseraceae), a common group of Amazonian trees which includes numerous edaphic (soil) specialists. Most evolutionary biologists believe that allopatric speciation (species formation by means of spatial isolation) is the dominant mechanism of diversification. The alternative hypothesis, that species diverge by means of parapatric speciation (species formation due to local adaptation to environmental variation in the absence of spatial isolation) is theoretically sound, has been supported by recent empirical studies, but remains untested in Amazonian trees.This is the first direct evaluation of parapatric speciation in Amazonian forests. First, the relative importance of edaphic heterogeneity and geographic distance are being evaluated in the structuring of populations of four common Amazonian tree species that have subspecific or varietal specialists on both white sand and clay soils. Next, the traits required for edaphic specialization are being measured, and the presence of gene flow between neighboring populations of white sand and clay populations quantified to see whether these species exhibit morphological divergence in the two soil types, even in the face of gene flow between populations. Unraveling the genealogy of each of these closely related taxa offers the opportunity to study the integration of micro and macro-evolutionary processes - how populations within a species become subdivided due to environmental variation and geographic distance, and the ultimate causes of speciation in this group. Director Cano is providing valuable experience in the National Herbarium, which houses many important collections from the Neotropics. One of this project's broader impacts is to pilot an extension of new databasing technology at the National Herbarium in Peru. This project represents a unique opportunity to build the foundation for future specimen-based research integrating phylogeny, biogeography, and ecological studies of tropical plants in Peru for students and faculty all over the world. In sum, this project contributes to a greater understanding of the processes that lead to diversification in Amazonian trees and is stimulating collaborations between scientists and students in Peru, Brazil, and the United States.