DISSERTATION RESEACH: Diversification in the South American "dry diagonal" biomes: Distribution modeling and multilocus comparative phylogeography in three co-distributed species

种群分化的模型大多是针对温带或热带雨林开发和验证的，它们对其他栖息地的普遍性在很大程度上还没有被探索。这个项目将使用一个严格的统计假设生成和分子检验框架来研究三个不同的蜥蜴种群的多样化过程，这些蜥蜴分布在南美洲中东部、干对角线和南美洲中部。生物群，物种丰富，但在历史上被忽视。主要目标是(1)使用模型来预测过去气候波动中的稳定区，(2)基于稳定面，使用多个遗传标记和综合分析方法来生成和测试预期多样性历史的遗传预测，以及(3)使用基于模型的比较方法来检验三种蜥蜴种群的空间和时间上的共同分歧。多样性研究有助于阐明物种和遗传多样性是如何起源和维持的，这是支持保护决策的基本参数。该项目的重点是加强国际合作机会的次大陆范围。遗传结果将揭示新物种，产生的资源(标本、组织、序列和古模式)将在公共数据库上提供给社区，以便与其他生物群和分类群进行比较。

Models of population divergence have mostly been developed and validated for temperate zones or rainforests, and their generality to other habitats is largely unexplored. This project will use a rigorous statistical hypothesis-generating and molecular-testing framework to investigate the diversification processes of three diverse groups of lizards widely distributed across the eastern-central South American ?dry diagonal? biomes, which are species-rich but historically neglected. The main goals are (1) to use modeling to predict stability areas across past climatic fluctuations, (2) based on the stability surface, to generate and test genetic predictions for expected diversification histories using multiple genetic markers and integrative analytical approaches, and (3) to use a model-based comparative approach to test for spatial and temporal co-divergence in the three lizards groups.Diversification studies can help elucidate how species and genetic diversity originated and have been maintained, which are essential parameters to endorse conservation decisions. The project focuses on a sub-continental scale that enhances opportunity for international collaboration. The genetic results will reveal new species, and the resources generated (specimens, tissues, sequences, and palaeo models) will be available to the community on public databases so they can be compared to other biomes and taxa.