DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Evolutionary Trends Within the Polemoniaceae (Ericales)

夹竹桃科（Polemoniaceae）是适应性辐射的典型例子，长期以来，来自不同领域的生物学家一直在假设传粉者在其物种形成中发挥了关键作用，并对其进行了研究。然而，这一假设尚未得到验证。本研究探讨了夹竹桃家族的进化，这是一组在美国发现的物种最多的植物，从生态学和遗传学的角度验证了这一假设。本研究将通过开发识别密钥，使公众，特别是本地植物组织的成员能够识别并因此对夹竹桃的生物多样性有更深的了解，从而有利于科学和社会。这些数据还将使保护主义者在寻求保护州和联邦一级的濒危和受威胁物种时做出明智的、具有成本效益的决定，特别是在加利福尼亚州、内华达州、明尼苏达州和威斯康星州。Polemonium已成为多个分子系统发育研究的主题，但其物种之间的关系仍未确定。物种之间的物种边界也不清楚，这可能是网状进化的结果。该项目将生成一个近物种水平的Polemoniaceae系统发育，并将使用形态计量学技术生成性状数据。这项研究将首次对所有物种进行采样，并利用多个核位点来确定物种关系。这些数据将验证花的形态是由传粉者选择的假设，而形态测量数据将决定叶的进化。从自然历史博物馆收集的数据将用于调查Polemonium的生物地理历史。利用这些数据集的比较系统发育方法为重建夹竹桃进化过程中不同时期的祖先特征状态提供了独特的机会。西药Polemonium湖泊在它所在的两个州都处于濒危状态，但尚未被联邦政府列为濒危物种。下一代测序方法将用于确定其分类地位和种群结构，为该稀有分类单元的保护提供信息。

The Polemoniaceae, the phlox family, is a textbook example of an adaptive radiation and has long been studied by biologists from diverse fields under the assumption that pollinators have played a key role in the formation of its species. However, this, hypothesis remains untested. This research explores evolution in the phlox family, a group of plants with most species found in the United States to test this this hypotheses from ecological and genetic perspectives. This research will benefit science and society by developing identification keys which will allow the public, especially members of native plant organizations, to identify and therefore have a deeper appreciation for the biological diversity of phlox. These data will also allow conservationists to make informed, cost-effective decisions as they seek to preserve endangered and threatened species at both the State and Federal level, especially in California, Nevada, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.Polemonium has been the subject of multiple molecular phylogenetic studies yet the relationships among its species remain undetermined. Species boundaries between species are also unclear, perhaps as a result of reticulate evolution. This project will generate a near species-level phylogeny of the Polemoniaceae and will also use morphometric techniques to generate trait data. This study will be the first to sample all species and utilize multiple nuclear loci to determine species relationships. These data will test the hypothesis that floral form has been selected for by pollinators and the morphometric data will determine the evolution of leaf form. Collection data from natural history museums will be used to investigate the biogeographic history of Polemonium. The use of comparative phylogenetic methods with these data sets provides a unique opportunity to reconstruct the ancestral character states at various time periods during phlox evolution. Polemonium occidentale ssp. lacustre is endangered in both states in which it occurs, but is not yet Federally listed as endangered. Next-generation sequencing approaches will be used to determine its taxonomic status and population structure to inform conservation of this rare taxon.