Broad to fine scale phylogenetic pattern and character evolution in Ruellieae (Acanthaceae)

Ruelliae（棘科）从广泛到精细的系统发育模式和特征进化

• 批准号: 0919594
• 负责人: Erin Tripp
• 金额: $ 54.05万
• 依托单位: Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-09-01 至 2013-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0919594&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Broad; fine; scale; phylogenetic; pattern

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).This project is a comprehensive study of a group of some 1,000 plant species that are poorly known among botanists. Members of this group, the Ruellieae (plant family: Acanthaceae), occur in nearly every tropical and subtropical environment across the planet. They are extraordinarily variable in flower shape and structure and thus contribute significantly to a range of plant-pollinator interactions in their respective environments. Despite this morphological diversity, Ruellieae have received little study by biologists. The major objectives of the project are to 1) survey existing specimen material in natural history museums worldwide; 2) use genetic data to build a family tree for Ruellieae; 3) use this tree to reconstruct the history of evolutionary events that led to such a great number of species, and investigate potential factors contributing to diversity (e.g., plant-pollinator relationships); and 4) distribute knowledge gained from this project through a variety of means including student training, professional and lay presentations, the development of international collaborations, publications, and contributions to online resources.As biologists, we have a major responsibility to accurately estimate standing biodiversity, but an accurate estimate is only the initial step. Understanding the historic patterns and tempo of diversification, and processes that sustain this diversity has predictive qualities that are vital to ensuring the continued existence of the organisms that form the basis of our ecosystem. We are only beginning to envision the impacts of one of the great mass extinctions in Earth history that has been termed a biodiversity crisis. One example is the serious decline in worldwide pollinators that concomitantly impacts their plant hosts. This study will help clarify the ecological and evolutionary relationship between plants and pollinators, and thus will contribute to the sustenance of worldwide ecological heath. Upon completion of the Ruellieae project, we will have built (and, in many cases employed) a global consortium of colleagues, students, conservationists, and laypersons who are dedicated to learning about and protecting diversity and ecological interactions.

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。该项目是对植物学家所知甚少的一组约1000种植物物种的综合研究。这一组的成员，Ruellieae（植物科：棘科），几乎出现在地球上所有的热带和亚热带环境中。它们在花的形状和结构上非常多变，因此在各自的环境中对一系列植物与传粉者的相互作用做出了重大贡献。尽管有这种形态上的多样性，但ruelliae很少得到生物学家的研究。该项目的主要目标是1)调查世界各地自然历史博物馆的现有标本材料；2)利用遗传数据建立了水蛭属植物的家谱；3)利用这棵树重建导致如此大量物种的进化事件的历史，并研究促进多样性的潜在因素（例如，植物与传粉者的关系）；4)通过各种方式传播从这个项目中获得的知识，包括学生培训、专业和外行演讲、国际合作的发展、出版物和对在线资源的贡献。作为生物学家，我们有责任准确地估计现存的生物多样性，但准确的估计只是第一步。了解多样化的历史模式和速度，以及维持这种多样性的过程，对确保构成我们生态系统基础的生物的持续存在至关重要。我们才刚刚开始想象地球历史上一次被称为生物多样性危机的大灭绝的影响。一个例子是世界范围内传粉媒介的严重减少，这同时影响了它们的植物宿主。这项研究将有助于阐明植物与传粉媒介之间的生态和进化关系，从而有助于维持全球生态健康。Ruellieae项目完成后，我们将建立（并在许多情况下雇用）一个由同事、学生、环保主义者和非专业人士组成的全球联盟，致力于学习和保护多样性和生态相互作用。