DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Do plants think globally and act locally? Combining environmental niche models with intraspecific functional trait variation in a phylogenetic context

气候的长期变化可能会改变未来物种的分布。预测这些变化取决于对决定物种生长地点的因素的理解。该项目将测试波多黎各热带树种在降雨梯度和不同土壤上的分布是否可以从物种的功能特征中预测出来，以及物种拥有的特征是否受到其进化历史的限制。研究人员将使用标本馆标本来量化物种分布，并检查物种在美国生物多样性最丰富的栖息地之一的分布和特征之间的对应关系。与这项调查相关的更广泛的影响包括教学和培训机会，与保护和管理机构的网络和合作，以及对公共数据库的贡献。为波多黎各、纽约市和华盛顿特区的本科生提供的三个带薪实习机会，将为来自代表性不足群体的学生提供科学培训和研究经验。虽然现有的GK-12奖项授予哥伦比亚大学，但这项研究将与纽约市学校的课程挂钩，那里有大量波多黎各血统的学生。调查结果将分发给波多黎各和美属维尔京群岛植物保护特别工作组，这是一个由植物保护从业者组成的区域网络，其中包括来自美国农业部林业局、美国鱼类和野生动植物管理局、波多黎各自然资源部和波多黎各大学的代表。关于研究中使用的标本的信息将直接提供给参与的草本植物，为项目工作收集的关于分子序列和功能特征的数据将保存在在线数据库中。

Long-term changes in climate are likely to alter future distributions of species. Predicting these changes depends upon understanding the factors that determine where species grow. This project will test whether the distributions of species of tropical trees along gradients of rainfall and on different soils in Puerto Rico can be predicted from the functional traits of the species, and whether the traits that a species has are constrained by its evolutionary past. Researchers will use herbarium specimens to quantify species distributions and examine the correspondence between the distributions and the traits of the species in one of the most biodiverse habitats in the U.S.The broader impacts associated with this investigation include teaching and training opportunities, networking and collaborations with conservation and management agencies, and contributions to public databases. Three paid internships to undergraduate students in Puerto Rico, New York City, and Washington, DC, will provide scientific training and research experience to students from underrepresented groups. Though an existing GK-12 award to Columbia University, the research will be linked to curricula in schools in New York City, which host a large number of students of Puerto Rican heritage. Findings will be disseminated to the Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands Plant Conservation Task Force, a regional network of plant conservation practitioners which includes representatives from the USDA Forest Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Department of Natural Resources of Puerto Rico, and the University of Puerto Rico. Information on the specimens used in the research will be provided directly to participating herbaria and the data on molecular sequences and functional traits assembled for the project work will be deposited in online databases.