Role of palaeogeographical and ecological factors on the evolution and assembly of plant communities

我整合了生物地理学、系统发生学、地质学和生态学领域，以了解岛屿系统上生物群的起源和聚集。这项工作有助于减轻生物多样性的丧失。我的长期研究计划旨在解释历史事件和当前生态因素如何影响热带和北方地区植物物种的进化和分布。利用案例研究和综合公开信息，我的研究小组有三个相互关联的短期目标：1）阐明加勒比植物的历史地理学; 2）研究季节性干旱森林（SDTF）在安第斯山脉的形成;和3）推断植物群落在北方岛屿上的潜在组装过程。加勒比地区是重要的研究和保护，因为它是世界五大生物多样性热点之一。我们将探讨三个假说的作用：殖民化，岛屿物种形成，和加勒比植物群的起源vicariance。使用已发表的过时的系统发育树，我们将推断祖先的植物区，以测试预测加勒比地质历史对植物的殖民或vicariance的影响。我们还将估计这些物种的殖民和物种形成率。DNA测序将被用来重建Copernicia，加勒比辐射的21个棕榈物种的系统发育树和植物地理学的历史，作为一个案例研究。 多达三分之一的全球人口生活在干燥的热带地区，这是热带地区最濒危的生态系统。目标2将提供SDTF形成的空间和时间框架，这将补充安第斯形成的不完整地质证据。使用DNA测序，我们将在哥伦比亚安第斯山脉的六个地方的仙人掌家族中的两个SDTF物种进行地理和历史人口分析。系统发育群落生态学领域的诞生与建议，在一个社区中的物种分离的系统发育距离，可以指示是否非生物，生物或随机因素驱动的社区组装。我们将在一个北方岛屿上检验做出这些推论所需的两个条件。使用六个栖息地在纽芬兰，我们将首先评估，如果物种的系统发育距离是窄或宽的谱系的基础上。其次，我们将测试这些栖息地的性状适应是否是进化保守的。我的研究计划将有助于岛屿地理学领域使用历史和当前的生态角度在热带和北方。它将补充旨在重建加勒比群岛和安第斯隆起的起始、持续时间和空间背景的地质证据。我的长期研究将通过为保护区的设计和严重干扰地区的恢复提供信息来影响热带和北方生态系统的保护。将培养三名博士，两名硕士和五名本科生。

I integrate the fields of biogeography, phylogenetics, geology, and ecology to understand the origin and assembly of biota on island systems. This work can help mitigate biodiversity loss. My long-term research program aims to explain how historical events and current ecological factors have influenced the evolution and distribution of plant species in tropical and boreal regions. Using case studies and synthesizing publicly available information my research group has three inter-related short-term objectives: 1) elucidate the historical biogeography of Caribbean plants; 2) study the formation of seasonally dry forests (SDTF) in the Andes; and 3) infer the potential assembly processes of plant communities on a boreal island. The Caribbean is important to study and conserve because it is one of the world's top five biodiversity hotspots. We will investigate the role of three hypotheses: colonization, insular speciation, and vicariance on the origin of Caribbean flora. Using published dated phylogenetic trees, we will infer ancestral areas of plants to test predictions of the effects of Caribbean geological history on the colonization or vicariance of plants. We will also estimate colonization and speciation rates from these phylogenies. DNA sequencing will be used to reconstruct the phylogenetic tree and biogeographic history of Copernicia, a Caribbean radiation of 21 palm species, as a case study. Up to a third of the global population live in dry tropical areas, which are some of the most endangered ecosystems in the tropics. Objective 2 will provide a spatial and temporal framework for SDTF formation, which will complement the incomplete geological evidence of Andean formation. Using DNA sequencing, we will conduct a phylogeographic and historical demographic analysis of two SDTF species in the cactus family at six localities in the Colombian Andes. The field of phylogenetic community ecology was born with the suggestion that the phylogenetic distances separating species in a community, could indicate whether abiotic, biotic or random factors drive the community assembly. We will test two conditions needed to make these inferences on a boreal island. Using six habitats in Newfoundland we will first evaluate if the phylogenetic distances of species are narrow or wide on a lineage-by-lineage basis. Second, we will test if trait adaptations to these habitats are evolutionary conserved or not. My research program will contribute to the field of island biogeography using a historical and current ecological perspective in the tropics and boreal. It will complement geological evidence aimed at reconstructing the onset, duration and spatial context of the Caribbean archipelago and the Andean uplift. My long-term research will impact the conservation of tropical and boreal ecosystems by informing the design of protected areas and the restoration of heavily disturbed areas. Three PhDs, two MSc, and five undergraduate students will be trained.