A novel approach to the identification of independent evolutionary lineages

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。早期物种（在从共同祖先分化的早期阶段形成的物种）很难用形态学或行为学数据来诊断。新物种的表型相似性使对生物多样性产生的调查复杂化，因为一旦新物种具有可识别的独特性，就很难确定物种形成过程。然而，利用DNA序列和群体遗传理论中包含的信息，可以在它们分化的早期阶段识别出新的物种。本项目发展了新的理论和方法来划分分化初期的物种。此外，数据分析软件将被生产出来，允许进化遗传学家将这些方法应用到他们的研究系统中，其效用将通过两个经验系统的数据来证明。由于物种是生物学研究的基本单位，这项工作将对整个进化生物学、生态学和保护生物学产生广泛的影响。它还将导致两名研究生和一名博士后研究员的就业和培训，并将通过增加对北美生物群落和产生生物多样性的过程的了解而造福社会。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).Incipient species (species that form during the very early stages of divergence from a common ancestor) are difficult to diagnose using morphological or behavioral data. The phenotypic similarity of novel species complicates investigations into the generation of biodiversity because it can be difficult to identify speciation processes once the novel species are recognizably distinct. However, novel species can potentially be identified at very early stages in their divergence using information contained within DNA sequences and population genetic theory. This project develops new theories and methods to delimit species at the initial stages of divergence. Additionally, data analysis software will be produced that will allow evolutionary geneticists to apply these methods to their research systems, and its utility will be demonstrated using data from two empirical systems.Since species are the fundamental unit of biological research, this work will have broad impacts throughout evolutionary biology, ecology, and conservation biology. It will also result in the employment and training of two graduate students and a post-doctoral researcher, and will benefit society by increasing knowledge of North American Biomes and the processes that generate biodiversity.