Dimensions: Roles of Functional, Phylogenetic, and Genetic Diversity in Structuring and Sustaining Plant Communities Through Environmental Change

为了了解植物多样性的起源和动态，本项目将研究植物多样性的进化根源，植物性状如何多样化，以及进化历史和性状如何影响植物在气候变化、干扰和栖息地破碎化的景观中持续生存的能力。该项目的重点是威斯康星州，那里有关于植物分布和丰度的非常详细的数据，以及这些数据在过去50多年来是如何变化的。基因序列将用于重建进化关系。植物性状将被映射到这些树上，以推断它们是何时进化的，它们是如何变化的，以及祖先和性状如何影响物种的成功和共生。对某些物种的基因组大小和遗传变异的分析将揭示局部和区域变异模式如何与扩散特征、地理范围、栖息地破碎化和景观动态相关。历史群落变化和气候预测的数据将用于预测未来范围和丰度的变化。因此，该项目将整合我们对植物性状如何进化的理解，性状与生态成功的关系，以及性状如何与系统发育、基因组大小和景观条件相互作用，从而影响物种的持久性和入侵。植物多样性是生态系统生产力和多样性的基础，然而我们仍然缺乏一个清晰的图景，为什么大多数栖息地正在失去物种，而杂草植物正在入侵。这个项目将阐明驱动这些变化的机制，从而提高我们明智地管理自然和人工生态系统的能力。性状和序列数据也将增强国家数据库，促进进一步的研究。该项目将通过培训本科生、研究生和博士后研究人员的干部掌握与生物多样性科学有关的广泛技能，对人力资源作出重大贡献。

To understand the origins and dynamics of plant diversity, this project will investigate the evolutionary roots of plant diversity, how plant traits diversified, and how evolutionary history and traits now affect the ability of plants to persist in landscapes subject to climate change, disturbance, and habitat fragmentation. The project focuses on Wisconsin where remarkably detailed data exist on plant distributions and abundances and how these have changed over the past 50+ years. Gene sequences will be used to reconstruct evolutionary relationships. Plant traits will be mapped onto these trees to infer when they evolved, how they changed, and how ancestry and traits affect species success and co-occurrences. Analyses of genome size and genetic variation in some species will show how patterns of local and regional variation relate to dispersal traits, geographic range, habitat fragmentation, and landscape dynamics. Data on historical community changes and climate projections will be used to predict future changes in range and abundance. This project will thus integrate our understanding of how plant traits evolve, how traits relate to ecological success, and how traits interact with phylogeny, genome size, and landscape conditions to affect species persistence and invasions.Plant diversity underlies ecosystem productivity and diversity, yet we still lack a clear picture of why most habitats are losing species while weedy plants are invading. This project will illuminate the mechanisms driving these changes and so improve our ability to manage natural and constructed ecosystems wisely. The trait and sequence data will also enhance national databases, facilitating further research. The project will contribute substantially to human resources by training cadres of undergraduate, graduate and post-doctoral researchers in a broad set of skills related to biodiversity science.