Collaborative: Phylogenetic and Geographic Patterns in Moss Diversity

Duke University, Durham NC

Investigators

Abstract

The mosses (Division or Phylum Bryophyta) comprise the second largest group of land plants, after the highly successful angiosperms (flowering plants), and are important components of virtually all terrestrial ecosystems. Tremendous progress has been made in the last five years toward an understanding of phylogenetic relationships among the mosses and this project will build significantly upon that foundation. Information contained in DNA sequences acquired from multiple chloroplast and nuclear genes will be used to reconstruct genealogical relationships across the full spectrum of moss diversity, sampled from nearly all 865 currently recognized genera of mosses. In turn, the genealogical findings will then be used to investigate historical and ecological factors that affect patterns of moss diversity on a global scale. A novel aspect of the research will be the integration of different approaches to the measurement of biodiversity. In particular, the investigators will compare so-called taxic diversity, the numbers of species recognized by traditional taxonomic studies, to so-called phylogenetic measures of diversity (PD: phylogenetic diversity) based on variation (mutational diversity) at the DNA level. Such measures of phylogenetic diversity have recently gained prominence in conservation biology, and the research will extend such applications to the study of global biodiversity patterns in a major group of terrestrial organisms. Collaborating investigators Dr. Jon Shaw at Duke University and Dr. Bernard Goffinet at University of Connecticut will seek to test specific hypotheses about relative levels of biodiversity in tropical versus high latitude ecosystems, and between communities in different types of habitats. The work will therefore contribute to a broader understanding of the underlying mechanisms that control the world's biodiversity. This funding will also contribute significantly to the training of young biologists at Duke University and the University of Connecticut.