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Abstract Detail



Macroevolution

Pokorny, Lisa [1], May, Livia [2], Dodsworth, Steven [1], Utteridge, Timothy M. [3], Baker, William J. [4], Leitch, Ilia J. [5], Forest, Félix [5].

A community phylogenomics approach to the study of the origin and evolution of hyper-diverse SE Asian forests and implications for their conservation.

Most tree species are concentrated in tropical latitudes, with the Indo-Pacific region being as rich as the Neotropics and each region harboring about 22,000 tree species according to the latest estimates. Although tree species diversity is similar in these two regions, the level of threat they face is in sharp contrast. SE Asian forests have the highest deforestation rate of all tropical regions and are particularly vulnerable to disturbance (e.g. fires) due to the current refugial stage in which they are assumed to be. As part of the ongoing research programme “Global tree conservation through seed science” at RBG, Kew (funded by the Garfield Weston Foundation), we present an overview of our project investigating tree community assembly across SE Asia and neighboring regions. We wish to explore how the drastic geological and climate shifts our planet has experienced throughout its history have affected speciation, extinction, and migration processes through time and space with a focus on SE Asia, the region where A.R. Wallace independently conceived the theory of evolution through natural selection. We intend to achieve this by integrating new analytical methods (e.g., gene-species tree approaches) and high-throughput sequencing techniques (i.e., Hyb-Seq), together with climate and niche modeling, to create a community phylogenomics framework of SE Asian forests at the genus level. Among the hypotheses that we wish to explore are whether the tropical angiosperm tree flora of SE Asia has arisen predominantly by the immigration of species from neighboring areas or if it is the product of in situ speciation/extinction processes modulated by climate shifts and geological processes (e.g. plate tectonics, volcanism). The data generated by this study will also highlight areas within the SE Asian region comprising the highest levels of unique diversity (e.g. phylogenetic diversity, phylogenetic endemism) and hence of most pressing conservation concern.


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1 - Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Comparative Plant and Fungal Biology, Jodrell Laboratory, Richmond upon Thames, Surrey, TW9 3DS, UK
2 - ETH Zürich, Department of Environmental Systems Science, Universitätstrasse 16, Zürich, ZH, 8092, Switzerland
3 - Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Identification and Naming, Kew Herbarium, Richmond upon Thames, Surrey, TW9 3AE, Reino Unido
4 - Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Comparative Plant and Fungal Biology, Kew Herbarium, Richmond upon Thames, Surrey, TW9 3AE, Reino Unido
5 - Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Comparative Plant and Fungal Biology, Jodrell Laboratory, Richmond upon Thames, Surrey, TW9 3DS, Reino Unido

Keywords:
angiosperm trees
tropical forests
Southeast Asia
macroevolution
diversification
Community assembly
phylogenomics
conservation.

Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 10, Macroevolution
Location: 202/Savannah International Trade and Convention Center
Date: Monday, August 1st, 2016
Time: 4:00 PM
Number: 10010
Abstract ID:606
Candidate for Awards:None

Canceled

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