COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Resolving an ancient radiation: gingers, phylogenies, and fossils.

姜目是一类具有重要经济和生态意义的热带植物，包括香蕉、生姜、极乐鸟和美人掌。这个项目研究了生姜在地质时间尺度上的遗传、形态和生态进化。来自活物种和化石物种的形态数据将与DNA数据相结合，以重建物种之间的进化关系和重要进化事件的时间。然后将研究活物种和化石物种的地理分布及其生态随时间的变化，以了解这些植物如何随着时间的推移适应不同的地区和气候。需要整合来自化石和现代数据的多条证据线，以了解进化驱动因素和反应、当前和历史上的生物多样性以及现代生态系统是如何形成的；所有这些都使我们能够洞察生物多样性的当前模式，并能够预测未来的进化模式和生态系统过程。姜目是这类研究的典范，因为它们在今天具有重要的生态意义，而且存在大量的化石记录。此外，因为它们是热带和亚热带植物，它们将帮助我们了解世界变暖的生物学。

The order Zingiberales is a diverse group of economically and ecologically important tropical plants including banana, gingers, bird-of-paradise, and canna. This project examines the genetic, morphological, and ecological evolution of Zingiberales over geologic time scales. Morphological data from living and fossil species will be combined with DNA data to reconstruct evolutionary relationships among species and the timing of important evolutionary events. The geographical distribution of living and fossil species and changes in their ecology through time will then be examined to understand how these plants have adapted to different regions and climates through time. The integration of multiple lines of evidence from fossil and modern data is needed in order to understand evolutionary drivers and responses, current and historic biodiversity, and how modern ecosystems have been formed; all of which give us insight to the current patterns of biodiversity and the ability to predict future evolutionary patterns and ecosystem processes. The Zingiberales serve as a model for this type of study due to their ecological importance today and the presence of an extensive fossil record. In addition, because they are tropical and subtropical plants, they will help us understand the biology of a warming world.