COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: REVSYS: Tackling Schefflera: Initiating the Re-circumscription of the Largest Genus in Araliaceae

解决鹅掌柴：启动五加科最大属的重新界定。Plunkett Porter P. Lowry IINSF 0613728 0614152近三分之二的人参科物种，五加科，属于热带鹅掌柴属（约1100种，包括500种尚未正式命名）。 然而，研究人员对五加科的研究表明，鹅掌柴不是一个自然类群，而是由五个不相关的谱系组成，集中在世界四个不同的地区。 这个项目将开始解开混乱周围舍夫勒的重点是两个这些团体，一个集中在马达加斯加和另一个在新喀里多尼亚。 调查人员将（1）通过检查标本和开展实地工作来细化物种界限，（2）利用DNA序列评估进化关系和地理历史，（3）评估最稀有和最受威胁物种的保护重要性，保护生物多样性的必要性得到普遍认可，但进展远远落后于国际目标，分类学家在定义保护的基本单位（物种）、评估威胁和提供进化背景以做出最大限度地保护生物多样性的明智决策方面发挥着重要作用。 这项研究提供了一个明确的方法，以满足这些目标的一组模式物种（鹅掌柴属）从两个全球重要的生物多样性热点，并提供这些结果，科学界，相关政府机构和公众通过技术和用户友好的网点。 该项目也是三代科学家之间的桥梁，涉及主要研究人员，一名荣誉级植物学家和学生。

Tackling Schefflera: Initiating the Re-circumscription of the Largest Genus in AraliaceaeGregory M. Plunkett & Porter P. Lowry IINSF 0613728 & 0614152Near two-thirds of the species in the ginseng family, Araliaceae, belong to the tropical genus Schefflera (about 1100 species, including 500 that have not been formally named). However, the investigators' research on Araliaceae has demonstrated that Schefflera is not a natural group, comprising instead five unrelated lineages concentrated in four different parts of the world. This project will begin to untangle the confusion surrounding Schefflera by focusing on two of these groups, one centered in Madagascar and another in New Caledonia. The investigators will (1) refine species limits by examining specimens and conducting field work, (2) evaluate evolutionary relationships and geographic history using DNA sequences, and (3) assess the conservation importance of the rarest and most threatened species.The need to preserve biodiversity is universally recognized, but progress lags far behind international goals, and taxonomists have a major role to play by defining the basic unit of conservation (species), assessing threats, and providing an evolutionary context for making informed decisions that maximize biodiversity conservation. This study provides an explicit approach for meeting these goals for a set of model species (Schefflera) from two globally-important biodiversity hotspots, and delivering these results to the scientific community, relevant governmental agencies, and the general public through both technical and user-friendly outlets. The project also serves as a bridge between three generations of scientists by involving the principle investigators, an emeritus-level botanist, and students.