Understanding diversification and distribution patterns of the New Guinea flora

了解新几内亚植物区系的多样化和分布模式

• 批准号: 2891932
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Imperial College London
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2891932
• 关键词: Understanding; diversification; distribution; patterns; New

New Guinea is the world's most floristically diverse island. Uniquely in Asia, >75% of its forests are still intact, but although these forests are recognised as vital for climate change mitigation, they are under threat of deforestation for infrastructure development and conversion for oil palm concessions. Documenting the flora of New Guinea is dependent on baseline taxonomic knowledge, particularly of species-rich groups often labelled as 'taxonomic black holes'. The integration of well-sampled, well-resolved phylogenies into critical taxonomic research is a key step towards an improved and often accelerated understanding of species-rich groups. Increasing the speed that taxonomic outputs are produced is crucial to act against the threats to the island's habitats. Ascertaining what determines distribution patterns within the New Guinea flora is also key to conservation efforts. Plant traits dictate their distributions by allowing them to succeed in specific environments. This project will focus on Cyrtandra, an understorey genus of shrubs and herbs in the Gesneriaceae (African Violet family), one of the most diverse genera on New Guinea in terms of native species, with over 95% endemic to the island. Since the majority of the species diversity in New Guinea consists of non-trees (63%), Cyrtandra is an ideal case study for understanding diversification and distribution patterns of the New Guinea flora. Furthermore, it displays suitable variation in plant traits, both vegetative and reproductive. Using NGS techniques the student will construct a phylogeny of New Guinea Cyrtandra to reveal its evolutionary history and inform ongoing taxonomic work. They will build a plant trait database from Herbarium specimen observations to investigate whether plant traits can be associated with particular lineages. Are there suites of traits that enable some species to be more widespread and limit others to smaller geographic areas? Do any of these plant traits correlate with environmental variables, or biotic factors such as pollinators and dispersers? Furthermore, they will test whether we can use patterns in plant traits and environmental data to predict the effects of habitat loss and climate change on the distribution of Cyrtandra species. The student will be part of a Kew team documenting the flora of New Guinea with partners in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, both priority countries in Kew's Science Strategy. They will participate in fieldwork on New Guinea and gain skills in genomics and taxonomy, as well as in ecological and environmental modelling. By mapping species distributions and modelling plant traits and their relationships with environmental variables in Cyrtandra, and comparing these to other genera studied by Kew, they will impact on efforts to conserve the island's flora to protect species diversity and the livelihoods of local communities, building on the successful strategies applied in other Kew projects e.g. Ebo forest.

新几内亚是世界上植物种类最丰富的岛屿。在亚洲，超过 75% 的森林仍然完好无损，这是独一无二的，但尽管这些森林被认为对减缓气候变化至关重要，但它们仍面临着因基础设施开发和油棕特许权而遭到砍伐的威胁。记录新几内亚的植物区系依赖于基线分类学知识，特别是通常被标记为“分类黑洞”的物种丰富的群体。将采样良好、解析良好的系统发育整合到关键的分类学研究中，是改善并加速对物种丰富群体的了解的关键一步。提高分类产出的速度对于应对岛屿栖息地面临的威胁至关重要。确定新几内亚植物区系内分布模式的决定因素也是保护工作的关键。植物性状决定了它们的分布，使它们能够在特定的环境中取得成功。该项目将重点关注 Cyrtandra，这是苦苣苔科（非洲紫罗兰科）的一种下层灌木和草本属，是新几内亚本土物种最多样化的属之一，其中 95% 以上是该岛特有的。由于新几内亚的大部分物种多样性由非树木组成（63%），Cyrtandra 是了解新几内亚植物区系多样化和分布模式的理想案例研究。此外，它在植物性状（营养性状和生殖性状）方面表现出适当的变异。使用 NGS 技术，学生将构建新几内亚 Cyrtandra 的系统发育学，以揭示其进化历史并为正在进行的分类学工作提供信息。他们将从植物标本馆观察到的植物性状建立一个数据库，以研究植物性状是否与特定谱系相关。是否存在一系列特征使某些物种能够更加广泛分布，而将其他物种限制在较小的地理区域？这些植物性状是否与环境变量或传粉者和传播者等生物因素相关？此外，他们将测试我们是否可以使用植物性状和环境数据的模式来预测栖息地丧失和气候变化对 Cyrtandra 物种分布的影响。该学生将成为邱园团队的一员，与印度尼西亚和巴布亚新几内亚的合作伙伴一起记录新几内亚的植物区系，这两个国家都是邱园科学战略的重点国家。他们将参加新几内亚的实地考察，并获得基因组学和分类学以及生态和环境建模方面的技能。通过绘制 Cyrtandra 的物种分布图、对植物性状及其与环境变量的关系进行建模，并将其与邱园研究的其他属进行比较，它们将影响保护岛上植物区系的努力，以保护物种多样性和当地社区的生计，其他邱园项目中应用的成功策略，例如埃博森林。