Testing the Ecological Drivers and Phylogenetic Components of Diversification in a Major Continental Vertebrate Radiation

为什么有些生物群体包含大量的物种，而另一些则如此之少？关于地球的基本问题？生物多样性的问题在很大程度上仍然没有得到解决。在这个项目中，来自康奈尔大学和澳大利亚合作机构的学生和研究人员将生成遗传数据，并创建一套新的数学方法，以探索物种群体何时以及为什么会因灭绝而繁殖或毁灭。作为这些新技术的试验场，他们将研究一个超级多样化的澳大利亚蜥蜴群体，其中一个单一的祖先已经多样化为数百（或数千）个活物种。这种蜥蜴群体异常高的多样性使其成为一个特别强大的模型，用于测试生态学、气候变化和时空多样性模式之间相互作用的想法。作为该项目一部分发明的分析方法将被其他研究团队广泛使用，以了解其他生物群体的生物多样性。测序和比较DNA的实验室方法正变得越来越有效，这就需要同样强大的分析方法，例如可以将越来越丰富的遗传信息用于解决？大局观关于生物多样性的问题。除了研究基本生物模式的许多知识基础之外，了解生物多样性对于有效保护和管理地球资源至关重要。的生物多样性。

Why do some groups of organisms contain huge numbers of species and others so few? This fundamental question about the earth?s biological diversity remains largely unanswered. In this project, students and researchers from Cornell University and collaborating institutions in Australia will generate genetic data and create a suite of new mathematical approaches to explore when and why groups of species have either proliferated or been decimated by extinction. As a testing ground for these new techniques, they will study a super-diverse group of Australian lizards in which a single ancestor has diversified into hundreds (or maybe thousands) of living species. The unusually high diversity of this lizard group makes it a particularly powerful model for testing ideas about the interplay of ecology, climate change, and patterns of diversity over time and space.The analytical methods invented as part of this project will be used broadly by other research teams seeking to understand the biodiversity of other groups of organisms. Laboratory methods for sequencing and comparing DNA are becoming ever more efficient, creating a need for equally powerful analytical methods such as these that can put this growing wealth of genetic information to use in addressing ?big picture? questions about biological diversity. In addition to the many intellectual rationales for studying fundamental biological patterns, understanding biological diversification is critical for the effective conservation and resource management of the earth?s biological diversity.