COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Phylogeny of the New World oaks: Diversification of an ecologically important clade across the tropical-temperate divide

橡树(栎属开花植物)包括一些美国最重要的生态和经济树木。新大陆橡树世系的大约255棵橡树主导着北美和墨西哥的木本植物生物量、生物多样性、生态和营养循环。尽管橡树提供了重要的生态系统服务，但人们对该属的生物多样性知之甚少。在这个项目中，来自莫顿植物园(IL)、圣母大学(IN)、杜克大学(NC)、明尼苏达大学和墨西哥国立自动化大学的合作者将对新大陆的橡树进行全面系统的研究。该项目将整合下一代基因组(DNA)测序、植物生理学和野外植物直接研究以及博物馆藏品，以深入了解橡树的生命，以及橡树特征、分布和多样性如何随着生境和气候的变化而演变的基本问题。了解橡树如何应对气候和生境的变化对于为子孙后代保护森林生物多样性和健康的森林生态系统至关重要。该项目将通过几种方式广泛传播研究成果，提高不同受众对生物多样性的认识和了解：加强美国、墨西哥和欧洲研究人员之间的国际橡树合作；培训本科生和博士后生物多样性研究人员；培训K-12教师和他们的学生生物多样性科学；以及通过博物馆、植物园和在线场所进行公共宣传。

Oaks (the flowering plant genus Quercus) include some of America's most ecologically and economically important trees. The approximately 255 oaks of the New World oak lineage dominate North American and Mexican woody plant biomass, biodiversity, ecology, and nutrient cycling. Despite the significant ecosystem services provided by oaks, the biodiversity of this genus is poorly understood. In this project, collaborators from The Morton Arboretum (IL), the University of Notre Dame (IN), Duke University (NC), University of Minnesota, and Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México will undertake a comprehensive systematic study of the oaks of the New World. The project will integrate next-generation genomic (DNA) sequencing, plant physiology, and direct study of plants in the field and museum collections to gain insights into the oak tree of life and the basic question of how oak traits, distributions, and diversity evolve in response to changes in habitat and climate.Understanding of how oaks respond to shifts in climate and habitat is essential to conserving forest biodiversity and healthy forest ecosystems for future generations. The project will broadly disseminate findings and increase biodiversity awareness and understanding across diverse audiences in several ways: strengthening of an international oak collaboration among U.S., Mexican, and European researchers; training of undergraduate through postdoctoral biodiversity researchers; training K-12 teachers and their students in biodiversity science; and public outreach through museums, botanical gardens, and online venues.