Understanding diversification and distribution patterns of the New Guinea flora

新几内亚岛是世界上植物种类最丰富的岛屿。在亚洲独树一帜的是，大约75%的森林仍然完好无损，但尽管这些森林被认为对减缓气候变化至关重要，但它们正面临着为基础设施发展和油棕特许权转换而砍伐森林的威胁。记录新几内亚的植物群依赖于基本的分类学知识，特别是那些经常被称为“分类学黑洞”的物种丰富的群体。将充分采样、充分解决的系统发育整合到关键的分类学研究中，是改进和加速了解物种丰富群体的关键一步。加快分类学产出的速度对于采取行动应对对该岛栖息地的威胁至关重要。确定决定新几内亚植物群分布模式的因素也是保护工作的关键。植物的特性决定了它们的分布，使它们能够在特定的环境中成功。该项目将重点关注龙舌兰属（Cyrtandra），这是龙舌兰科（非洲紫罗兰科）灌木和草本植物的林下属，是新几内亚本土物种最多样化的属之一，95%以上是岛上特有的。由于新几内亚的大多数物种多样性由非树木组成（63%），Cyrtandra是了解新几内亚植物区系多样性和分布模式的理想案例研究。在植物的营养性状和生殖性状上均表现出适宜的变异。利用NGS技术，学生将构建新几内亚龙舌兰的系统发育，揭示其进化历史，并为正在进行的分类工作提供信息。他们将从植物标本室的标本观察中建立一个植物性状数据库，以研究植物性状是否与特定的谱系有关。是否有一系列的特征使一些物种能够更广泛地传播，而将其他物种限制在更小的地理区域？这些植物性状是否与环境变量或传粉者和传播者等生物因素有关？此外，他们将测试我们是否可以利用植物性状和环境数据的模式来预测栖息地丧失和气候变化对香子属物种分布的影响。这名学生将成为Kew团队的一员，与印度尼西亚和巴布亚新几内亚的合作伙伴一起记录新几内亚的植物群，这两个国家都是Kew科学战略的重点国家。他们将参加在新几内亚的实地考察，并获得基因组学和分类学以及生态和环境建模方面的技能。通过绘制Cyrtandra的物种分布图，模拟植物性状及其与环境变量的关系，并将其与Kew研究的其他属进行比较，他们将在Kew其他项目（如Ebo森林）成功应用的策略的基础上，对保护岛上植物群、保护物种多样性和当地社区生计的努力产生影响。

New Guinea is the world's most floristically diverse island. Uniquely in Asia, >75% of its forests are still intact, but although these forests are recognised as vital for climate change mitigation, they are under threat of deforestation for infrastructure development and conversion for oil palm concessions. Documenting the flora of New Guinea is dependent on baseline taxonomic knowledge, particularly of species-rich groups often labelled as 'taxonomic black holes'. The integration of well-sampled, well-resolved phylogenies into critical taxonomic research is a key step towards an improved and often accelerated understanding of species-rich groups. Increasing the speed that taxonomic outputs are produced is crucial to act against the threats to the island's habitats. Ascertaining what determines distribution patterns within the New Guinea flora is also key to conservation efforts. Plant traits dictate their distributions by allowing them to succeed in specific environments. This project will focus on Cyrtandra, an understorey genus of shrubs and herbs in the Gesneriaceae (African Violet family), one of the most diverse genera on New Guinea in terms of native species, with over 95% endemic to the island. Since the majority of the species diversity in New Guinea consists of non-trees (63%), Cyrtandra is an ideal case study for understanding diversification and distribution patterns of the New Guinea flora. Furthermore, it displays suitable variation in plant traits, both vegetative and reproductive. Using NGS techniques the student will construct a phylogeny of New Guinea Cyrtandra to reveal its evolutionary history and inform ongoing taxonomic work. They will build a plant trait database from Herbarium specimen observations to investigate whether plant traits can be associated with particular lineages. Are there suites of traits that enable some species to be more widespread and limit others to smaller geographic areas? Do any of these plant traits correlate with environmental variables, or biotic factors such as pollinators and dispersers? Furthermore, they will test whether we can use patterns in plant traits and environmental data to predict the effects of habitat loss and climate change on the distribution of Cyrtandra species. The student will be part of a Kew team documenting the flora of New Guinea with partners in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, both priority countries in Kew's Science Strategy. They will participate in fieldwork on New Guinea and gain skills in genomics and taxonomy, as well as in ecological and environmental modelling. By mapping species distributions and modelling plant traits and their relationships with environmental variables in Cyrtandra, and comparing these to other genera studied by Kew, they will impact on efforts to conserve the island's flora to protect species diversity and the livelihoods of local communities, building on the successful strategies applied in other Kew projects e.g. Ebo forest.