Phylogenetic Diversity and Phylogenetic Endemism in the California Flora

本项目将从系统发育多样性的角度出发，以了解生物多样性的进化历史为重点。传统上，生物多样性热点和地方性是通过一个地区物种数量的变化来衡量的。这类研究缺少系统发育方法所能提供的丰富分析。研究人员将结合空间分布数据、系统发育关系和新的分析工具，为全球公认的高植物多样性地区加利福尼亚维管植物多样性模式提供令人兴奋的新见解。目前在系统发育分析中缺失的植物将被收集起来，该项目有望提供关于植物多样性模式的新信息，这不仅对研究人员有用，而且对保护规划者和业余植物爱好者也有用。一名博士后研究员和几名本科生将接受系统发育地方性研究方法的培训。在进行这些培训活动的同时，还将通过会谈向公民科学家和业余植物学家广泛宣传，强调在评价生物多样性模式时综合系统发育关系信息的重要性。该项目生成的分析工具套件也将为未来的系统发育地方性分析提供一个模型，可用于世界各地的各种生物。

This project will take the perspective of phylogenetic diversity in order to understand biodiversity with an emphasis on evolutionary history. Biodiversity hot spots, and endemism, are traditionally measured by changes in the number of species across a region. Such studies miss the full richness of analyses that a phylogenetic approach can provide. The investigators will use a combination of spatial distribution data, phylogenetic relationships, and new analysis tools to provide exciting new insights into the patterns of vascular plant diversity within California, a globally recognized region of high plant diversity. Plants currently missing from phylogenetic analyses will be collected, and this project promises to provide new information about patterns of plant diversity that will be useful not only to researchers, but also conservation planners and amateur plant enthusiasts. One postdoctoral researcher and several undergraduates will be trained in the methods being used to investigate phylogenetic endemism. These training activities will be coupled with extensive outreach to citizen scientists and amateur botanists through talks highlighting the importance of integrating information on phylogenetic relationships when evaluating patterns of biological diversity. The suite of analysis tools generated by this project will also provide a model for future analyses of phylogenetic endemism that could be used in diverse organisms throughout the world.