Collaborative Research: ARTS: Diversification in the Perennial Endemic North American (PENA) clade of Apiaceae: Defining genera and species in a major western North American radiat

奥尔多·利奥波德(Aldo Leopold，1953)在谈到保护时经常被引用这样一句话：“保留每一个齿轮和轮子是智能修补的第一个预防措施”。然而，你首先必须知道齿轮和轮子是什么。北美多年生特有种(Pena)Apiaceae分支是一类约200种的植物，主要来自美国西部，是北美最大的植物类群之一。像Pena这样的不同群体使人们对物种边界在哪里划定最好的理解复杂化，并限制了良好的保护做法的实施。拟议的工作将利用分子、生态、形态和气候数据来澄清该支系内物种的分类和关系，并为该类群提供修订和更新的分类。将开发基于网络的电子出版物，其中包括互动钥匙，以及带有描述、图像、分布图和标本数据链接的物种页面。由于这项研究的重点是北美的一个大型、多样化的植物种群，因此它为广泛的目标受众提供了广泛的科学推广和培训前景。各级学生都将参与到这个项目中来。代表不足的本科生和研究生(特别是美洲原住民和西班牙裔)将被招募参加实地和实验室工作。将在爱达荷州为K-12的学生和他们的老师组织实地研究，向他们介绍这些植物的分类、进化和民族植物学。最后，产生的识别工具和特定物种的环境和生态数据将有助于保护这一组中发现的许多稀有物种。大范围的研究具有广泛的意义，考虑到这一点，我们建议使用一个大的、分布广泛的植物分支--Pena分支--来联系表型、生态、地理和气候来界定物种。尽管它在西部植物区系中的规模和重要性，但人们对它的进化知之甚少，这一事实反映在它的属的人造上。该项目将利用对所有已知物种和种下分类群的全面采样来开发Pena支系的分子系统学假说，作为测试关于物种划界和与形态、生态、地理和气候或组合一致的关系的具体假说的框架。它将为整个Pena支系提供经修订的分类，并以电子专著的形式在网上传播这一信息，以支持有效的生物多样性管理，并鼓励进一步的科学研究。虽然这个项目的主要目标是更好地划定Pena分支的分类和物种边界，但这项工作的完成将使未来的研究能够调查物种形成、生态相互作用、群落组装的模式和过程，并对北美西部植物群和依赖于该植物群的生物群的多样性提供更好的理解。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Aldo Leopold (1953) is often cited as saying "To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering" in reference to conservation. However, you first have to know what the cogs and wheels are. The Perennial Endemic North American (PENA) clade of Apiaceae is a group of ~200 species primarily from the western USA, representing one of the largest plant groups in North America. Diverse groups such as PENA complicate understanding where species boundaries are best drawn and limit implementing good conservation practices. The proposed work will utilize molecular, ecological, morphological, and climatic data to clarify the taxonomy and relationships of species within the clade and provide a revised and updated classification for this group. Web-based electronic publications that include interactive keys, as well as species pages with descriptions, images, distribution maps, and links to specimen data, will be developed. Because this study focuses on a large, diverse plant group in North America, it provides a wide range of prospects for scientific outreach and training across a broad cross section of target audiences. Students of all levels will be involved in this project. Underrepresented undergraduate and graduate students (particularly of Native American and Hispanic heritage) will be recruited to take part in field and laboratory work. Field studies in Idaho will be organized for K-12 students and their teachers, introducing them to the taxonomy, evolution, and ethnobotany of these plants. Lastly, the identification tools and species-specific environmental and ecological data generated will aid in the conservation of the many rare species found within this group. Research at broad scales has wide-ranging implications, and with this in mind, we propose to use a large, broadly distributed clade of plants, the PENA clade, to relate phenotype, ecology, geography, and climate to delimit species. Despite its size and importance in the western flora, the evolution of this group is poorly understood, a fact reflected in the artificiality of its genera. This project will develop molecular-phylogenetic hypotheses of the PENA clade using comprehensive sampling of all known species and infraspecific taxa to serve as a framework to test specific hypotheses on species delimitation and relationships congruent with morphology, ecology, geography, and climate or a combination. It will provide a revised taxonomy for the entire PENA clade and disseminate this information online in the form of electronic monographs to support effective biodiversity management and stimulate further scientific inquiry. Although the primary goal of this project is to better delimit the taxonomy and species boundaries of the PENA clade, the completion of this work will allow future studies to investigate patterns and processes of speciation, ecological interactions, community assembly and provide a greater understanding for the diversification of western North American Flora as well as the Biota that rely on that flora.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.