PEET: Systematics of the Daltoniaceae (Bryophyta)

该项目的目标是重建南半球一组生态上突出的苔藓植物之间的系统发育关系，并澄清物种之间的边界、它们的地理范围和它们的区别特征。道尔顿草科是本次研究的重点类群，广泛分布于南美洲和澳大拉西亚的热带和南温带森林中。这些物种是许多南半球生态系统的显著组成部分，在那里它们以附生植物的形式出现在开花植物和树蕨类植物、土壤和腐烂的原木上。该科约有14属215种，但关于它们的生态和地理范围的基本信息仍然缺乏。目前的项目将利用一系列方法，包括形态变异的实验室分析、生态关系的实地研究和DNA核苷酸序列数据，对达尔托尼亚科的生物多样性格局进行多方面的评估，以解决种群结构和系统发育关系。这项研究将对这些苔藓植物进行正式的分类处理(包括插图、描述和其他鉴定工具)，以及对系谱关系的分子分析，这对了解这一群体的形态和生态多样性的起源至关重要。对分子系统发育信息的分析将被用来推断多样化的速度和模式，以及这些模式与生态和地理因素的关系。该项目将使用互补的方法解决广泛的科学问题，所有这些方法都是为了更好地了解世界生物多样性及其起源。南半球有丰富的植物区系，但相对鲜为人知，在道尔顿草科中发现的许多分布模式出现在其他动植物类群中。因此，应用分子工具来了解生物多样性的地理位置将与许多其他群体相关。这项研究产生的分类处理方法提供了对生物多样性模式的基本描述，从而为更广泛的科学界成员未来的所有研究奠定了基础。作为Peet赠款，该项目围绕着培训年轻研究人员以发展未来的科学事业，特别是在生物多样性研究方面的核心目标而建立。该项目通过将本科生、研究生和博士后实习生纳入工作的各个方面，对科学基础设施产生了积极的影响。智力的交叉刺激和积极、合作的研究道德的发展是该项目的一个重要培训组成部分。在研究过程中收集的所有信息都将在互联网上免费提供，并将广泛向公众开放。

The goals of this project are to reconstruct phylogenetic relationships among an ecologically prominent group of Southern Hemisphere mosses, and to clarify the boundaries among species, their geographic ranges, and their distinguishing features. The Daltoniaceae, which are the focal group for this research, are widespread in tropical and South-Temperate forests of both South America and Australasia. The species are conspicuous components of many Southern Hemisphere ecosystems, where they occur as epiphytes on flowering plants and tree ferns, on soil, and on rotting logs. There are about 14 genera and 215 species in the family, but basic information about their ecology and geographic ranges is still lacking. The current project will provide a multifaceted assessment of biodiversity patterns in the Daltoniaceae, utilizing a range of methodology including laboratory analyses of morphological variation, field studies of ecological relationships, and DNA nucleotide sequence data to resolve population structure and phylogenetic relationships. The research will yield formal taxonomic treatments for these mosses (including illustrations, descriptions, and other tools for identification), plus molecular analyses of genealogical relationships that are crucial to understanding the origin of morphological and ecological diversity in this group. Analyses of molecular phylogenetic information will be employed to infer rates and patterns of diversification and how those patterns relate to ecological and geographical factors. The project will address a broad range of scientific issues using complementary methods that are all directed toward a better understanding of the world's biodiversity and its origins. The Southern Hemisphere has a rich and relatively poorly known flora and many of the distributional patterns found in Daltoniaceae occur in other plant and animal groups. Thus, the application of molecular tools to understanding the geography of biodiversity will be relevant to many other groups. The taxonomic treatments produced by this research provide a basic description of biodiversity patterns and thus form the foundation for all future research by members of the broader scientific community. As a PEET grant, this project is built around a central goal of training young investigators to develop future careers in science, and in particular, in studies of biodiversity. This project impacts favorably on scientific infrastructure by including undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctoral trainees in all aspects of the work. Intellectual cross stimulation and the development of a positive, collaborative research ethic is an important training component of the project. All information collected during the course of this research will be made freely available on the internet, and will be broadly accessible to the public.