Effects of ants and ant-mediated dispersal on speciation rates, biogeography and diversity of angiosperms.

这项工作旨在提高我们对长期存在的生态学进化问题的普遍理解，即是什么过程使一些群体变得多样化，而另一些则没有，为什么扩散模式随地理而变化，以及物种形成和灭绝如何在空间，时间和分类上有所不同？在回答这些问题时，我们将解决保护中一些最基本的问题，包括哪些因素使物种在地理上罕见，哪些物种最容易受到气候变化的影响，以及哪些因素导致Kwongan Heath和Fynbos等栖息地如此异常生物多样性。

This work seeks to improve our general understanding of longstanding questions in ecology in evolution, namely what are the processes that have allowed some groups to become diverse and others not, why does dispersal mode vary with geography, and how do speciation and extinction vary across space, time and taxon? In answering these questions, we will address some of the most fundamental questions in conservation, including what are the factors that make species geographically rare, which species are most at risk for climate change, and what are the factors that have led habitats like the Kwongan Heath and Fynbos to be so exceptionally biodiverse.