DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Systematics and Evolution of Neotropical Bell-Flowers (Lobelioideae)

南美洲的安第斯山脉是世界上六分之一的植物物种的家园--S，比其他任何生物多样性热点地区都多。在这种巨大的多样性中，600种新热带钟状花属于Centropogon属、Burmeistera属和Siphocamylus属。这个项目的第一个目标是使用来自叶绿体和核基因组的DNA序列数据来重建这个植物群体的进化历史。这一系统发育将被用来理解新热带铃兰的进化与它们的生态联系。首先，将记录蜂鸟和长舌蝙蝠传粉综合征之间的形态进化模式。其次，从钟形花上采集的花螨的系统发育将与植物系统发育进行比较，以测试寄主和寄生虫共同多样化的信号。该项目将通过拉丁美洲植物学家和机构的参与促进国际合作。该项目还将有助于美国和海外实体博物馆藏品的增长。将开发一个网站，随时提供植物的高分辨率数字图像和支系内目前公布的少数几个组的检索表。最后，该项目的成果将以英文和西班牙文在出版物、公开讲座和科学讲座上发表。这项研究包含了有魅力的脊椎动物、蜂鸟和蝙蝠的诱人植物和授粉，使这项研究作为教授K-12学生进化论的模型特别有吸引力。

The Andean mountain chains of South American are home to one-sixth of the world?s plant species, more than any other biodiversity hotspot. The 600 species of Neotropical bell-flower in the genera Centropogon, Burmeistera, and Siphocampylus represent a small fraction of this overwhelming diversity. The first goal of this project is to use DNA sequence data from both the chloroplast and nuclear genomes to reconstruct the evolutionary history of this plant group. This phylogeny will then be used to understand the evolution of Neotropical bell-flowers with respect to their ecological associates. First, patterns of morphological evolution involved in shifts between hummingbird and long-tongue bat pollination syndromes will be documented. Second, a phylogeny generated for flower mites collected from bell-flowers will be compared to the plant phylogeny to test for signals of co-diversification between host and parasite.This project will facilitate international collaboration via the participation of Latin American botanists and institutions.This project will also aid in the growth of physical museum collections, both in the US and abroad. A website that will make high-resolution digital images of the plants and the few currently published keys of groups within the clade readily available will be developed. Finally, the results of this project will be presented in publications and public and scientific talks in both English and Spanish. The inclusion of attractive plants and pollination by charismatic vertebrates, hummingbirds and bats, makes this research particularly attractive as model to teach K-12 students about evolution.