Collaborative Research: Phylogeny and Montane Species Richness in Plethodontid Salamanders

合作研究：无齿蝾螈的系统发育和山地物种丰富度

• 批准号: 0331747
• 负责人: John Wiens
• 金额: $ 8.1万
• 依托单位: SUNY at Stony Brook
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2003
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2003-02-20 至 2005-11-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0331747&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Phylogeny; Montane; Species

The investigators will reconstruct the phylogeny of plethodontid salamanders using morphological and molecular data and then use the phylogeny to explore how species diversity changes with elevation, and the evolutionary reasons for patterns of species richness. Plethodontidae is the largest family of salamanders, containing about two-thirds of all 460+ species of salamanders. Plethodontids are possibly the most abundant vertebrates in eastern North America and are the focus of research by dozens of scientists in many diverse fields of biology (e.g., ecology, behavior, morphology, evolution, development). Many (if not most) of these studies depend critically on having a robust phylogenetic framework. However, higher-level relationships among plethodontids have never been the subject of a comprehensive study using modern methods. In a three-year collaborative study, the PIs will reconstruct the phylogeny of 112 species of plethodontid salamanders (plus outgroups representing five other families) using morphological characters and DNA sequences from two mitochondrial genes and one nuclear gene. The phylogeny will be used to explore how and why species diversity changes with elevation, using the unusually rich salamander fauna of the Appalachian Mountains as a model system. Many groups of organisms exhibit increased species diversity in montane areas relative to lowland areas, a widespread pattern that remains poorly explained. It is suggested herein that this pattern results from increased speciation in montane regions caused by the disjunctive nature of montane habitats and the elevational habitat specificity of highland species. Three key predictions of this model will be tested using phylogenetic methods. The study will provide the first phylogeny of plethodontid salamanders based on a rigorous analysis of morphological and molecular data. The phylogeny will be critical to dozens of researchers who use plethodontids as a model system in studies of ecology, behavior, evolution, development, and other areas of biology. The study will also be the first to address elevational patterns of species richness from a phylogenetic perspective. These analyses of montane species richness should have important implications for the fields of ecology, evolution, biogeography, and conservation biology. For example, the analyses of elevational specificity (how narrowly adapted a species is to a given elevational range and its associated climate) may be important for predicting the persistence or extinction of montane species in relation to global warming or other changes in climate. The study will provide training for undergraduate and graduate students and a postdoctoral fellow in molecular techniques and in integrated analyses of phylogeny, ecology, and evolution.

研究人员将使用形态学和分子数据重建多刺sal的系统发育，然后使用系统发育来探讨物种多样性如何随升高而变化，以及物种丰富度模式的进化原因。 Plethodontidae是最大的Salamanders家族，其中包含所有460多种Salamanders的三分之二。 成丁质可能是北美东部最丰富的脊椎动物，是许多不同生物学领域的科学家（例如生态学，行为，形态，进化，发展）的研究重点。 这些研究中的许多（如果不是大多数）批判性地取决于具有强大的系统发育框架。 但是，多刺之间的高层关系从来都不是使用现代方法进行全面研究的主题。在一项为期三年的合作研究中，PIS将使用来自两个线粒体基因和一个核基因的形态学特征和DNA序列重建112种种类的多刺sal（以及代表其他五个家族的外群）的系统发育。 系统发育将使用阿巴拉契亚山脉的异常丰富的Salamander Fauna作为模型系统来探索物种多样性随海拔的变化以及为什么随着海拔而变化的原因。 相对于低地地区，许多生物体在山地地区表现出增加的物种多样性，这一广泛的模式仍然很差。 本文建议，这种模式是由于山地栖息地的分离性质和高地物种的高度栖息地特异性引起的山地区域的增加而导致的。 该模型的三个关键预测将使用系统发育方法测试。 这项研究将基于对形态和分子数据的严格分析，提供蛋sal的第一种系统发育。系统发育对于数十名使用蛋白质骨的研究人员将作为生态，行为，进化，发展和其他生物学领域的模型系统的研究人员至关重要。这项研究还将是第一个从系统发育的角度解决物种丰富度的海拔高度模式的研究。 这些对山地物种丰富度的分析应该对生态学，进化，生物地理学和保护生物学领域具有重要意义。例如，对高度特异性的分析（物种狭窄的适应性是对给定的海拔范围及其相关气候）的分析，对于预测与全球变暖或气候变化有关的蒙塔尼物种的持久性或灭绝可能很重要。 这项研究将为本科和研究生提供培训，以及分子技术的博士后研究员，以及对系统发育，生态学和进化的综合分析。