Plant-pollinator interactions and floral differentiation

开花植物的迅速多样化是自然界中最引人注目的模式之一。这一群体似乎是适应性辐射的典型例子，被子植物与其姊妹种系之间的物种数量估计相差300至3600倍。我的研究兴趣在于探索生态和进化过程，这些过程塑造了开花植物的多样性。通过过去的研究，我帮助我们理解了自然选择在这一组特征多样化中所起的作用，此外，我还研究了特定特征，如花的形状，在造成被子植物谱系之间物种丰富度差异方面所起的作用。在我下一阶段的研究中，我将扩展现有的关于动物传粉者在被子植物多样化中的作用的理论，从关注局部尺度的过程扩展到包括区域和社区水平的过程的更广泛的视角。我还将利用我的经验，使用系统发育比较的方法来理清草食动物和动物传粉者在被子植物多样化中所起的作用。此外，我将启动实验系统来探索植物对群落中其他物种的适应性反应和/或生境异质性如何影响植物传粉者专门化的进化。总而言之，我的研究目标是了解过去和现在促进花卉特征多样化、物种共存以及最终促进物种丰富度差异的过程。为了更好地理解形成开花植物多样性的过程，我使用了系统发育学和数学模型等创新工具，以及田间实验等更传统的方法来解决这些问题。

The rapid diversification of the flowering plants is one of the most remarkable patterns in nature. This group appears to be a classic example of an adaptive radiation, with an estimated 300 to 3600-fold difference in species number between the angiosperms and its sister lineage. My research interests lie in exploring the ecological and evolutionary processes that have shaped diversity in the flowering plants. Through past research I have contributed to our understanding of the role natural selection has played in trait diversification in this group, in addition to studying the role specific traits, such as floral shape, have played in generating disparity in species richness among angiosperm lineages. In the next stage of my research I will expand existing theory on the role of animal pollinators in angiosperm diversification from a focus on local scale processes to a broader perspective that includes regional and community level processes. I will also draw on my experience using phylogenetic comparative methods to disentangle the role that herbivores and animal pollinators have played in the diversification of the angiosperms. Furthermore, I will initiate experimental systems to explore how a plant's adaptive response to other species in the community and/ or habitat heterogeneity influences the evolution of plant-pollinator specialization. In summary, the goal of my research is to understand past and present processes that promote diversification in floral traits, species coexistence, and ultimately, differences in species richness. I approach these questions using innovative tools such as phylogenetics and mathematical models, as well as more traditional methods such as field experiments in order to better understand the processes that have shaped flowering plant diversity.