NSF PRFB FY 2023: Testing the Latitudinal Diversity Gradient

该行动资助了美国国家科学基金会2023财年生物学博士后研究奖学金，研究基因组，环境和表型之间相互作用的生命规则的综合研究。该奖学金支持将以创新方式对生活规则领域作出贡献的研究员的研究和培训。该奖学金旨在研究热带和极地地区生物的分布模式。先前对物种分布的研究表明，生物多样性倾向于随着离赤道的距离而减少。尽管这种模式是全球性的，而且从查尔斯·达尔文时代就已经为人所知，但我们仍然不知道是什么导致了这种趋势。本研究将通过比较热带、温带和极地环境中的物种形成，探索不同纬度生物的独特多样性是如何产生的。通过发现物种更有可能起源的地区，他将致力于揭示地球上生物多样性的历史和分布。更全面地了解生物多样性如何在地理尺度上运作，将有助于我们减轻入侵物种、疾病及其媒介的能力，以及气候变化的代价。在开展研究活动的同时，还将开展针对纳什维尔地区在押人员和前在押人员的教育和推广工作。本项目将通过开展一系列大规模的多样性研究，探索物种的纬向多样性梯度。由于估计全球多样性需要广泛的采样，目前的研究主要局限于脊椎动物和维管植物的密集采样群。这限制了我们在系统发育和地理上的理解范围，因为这些群体主要局限于热带和温带气候。为了解决这些知识空白，本研究将在一个以前未被探索的领域（真菌）和两个具有环极分布的海洋无脊椎动物分支（Polynoidae和Pycnogonida）中产生全球多样化梯度。多样化梯度将通过一系列明确设计的方法来推断，以适应最近对多样化分析区分假设的能力提出的关切。这些方法包括非参数方法，隐藏状态物种形成灭绝模型，以及结合多样性依赖和古地理变化的新方法。这项工作还将整合到多个更广泛的影响工作中，包括范德比尔特大学的进化研究倡议和最大化研究职业项目，以及开发针对监狱教育的新推广和参与材料。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2023, Integrative Research Investigating the Rules of Life Governing Interactions Between Genomes, Environment, and Phenotypes. The fellowship supports research and training of the fellow that will contribute to the area of Rules of Life in innovative ways. This fellowship aims to study patterns of distribution of living organisms across tropical and polar latitudes. Prior studies of the distributions of species show that the diversity of living organisms tends to decrease with distance from the equator. Even though this pattern is global and has been known since the days of Charles Darwin, we still do not know what causes this trend. This research will explore how the distinct diversity of living organisms across latitudes arose by comparing species formation in tropical, temperate, and polar environments. By discovering regions where species are more likely to originate, the fellow will work to uncover the history and distribution of biodiversity across the planet. A more complete understanding of how biodiversity operates across geographic scales will contribute to our ability to mitigate invasive species, diseases and their vectors, and the costs of climate change. Research activities will be accompanied by several education and outreach efforts directed at incarcerated and formerly-incarcerated populations in the Nashville area.This project will explore the latitudinal diversity gradient by conducting a series of large-scale diversification studies. Due to the breadth of sampling required to estimate global diversification, current studies are largely limited to densely sampled groups in vertebrates and vascular plants. This limits the scope of our understanding both phylogenetically and geographically, as these groups are largely restricted to tropical and temperate climes. To address these knowledge gaps, this research will generate global diversification gradients in a previously unexplored kingdom (Fungi) and two marine invertebrate clades (Polynoidae and Pycnogonida) with circumpolar distributions. Diversification gradients will be inferred through a combination of methods explicitly designed to accommodate concerns recently raised over the ability of diversification analyses to distinguish between hypotheses. These include nonparametric approaches, hidden state speciation extinction models, and new methods incorporating diversity-dependence and paleogeographic shifts. The work will also be integrated into multiple broader impact efforts, including the Evolutionary Studies Initiative and Maximizing Access to Research Careers programs at Vanderbilt University, as well as develop new outreach and engagement materials geared toward prison education.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.