US-Brazil Dissertation Research - Phylogenetic History and Species Delimitation in the Neotropical Plant Genus Pagamea Aubl. (Rubiaceae)

University Of Missouri-Saint Louis, Saint Louis MO

Investigators

Abstract

In this dissertation enhancement award supported by the Americas Program in the Office of International Science and Engineering and the Systematic Biology Program in the Division of Environmental Biology, Peter F. Stevens, Elizabeth A. Kellogg, and Alberto Vicentini of the University of Missouri, St. Louis and the Missouri Botanical Garden will use modern molecular-phylogenetic techniques and morphometrics to produce testable hypotheses of the mechanisms that have contributed to the diversification of Pagamea in South America. Since Pagamea is a fairly large and difficult Neotropical genus with a wide range in the Amazon basin, fieldwork will be conducted in Brazil, Venezuela, Peru, and Guyana. Precise location data for plants will be combined with assembly of information regarding the geographical pattern of climate, soils, and barriers to dispersal. Phylogenetic relationships will be reconstructed at a fine level of resolution. The results of this work can provide a model for studying and understanding the systematics and evolution of this complex and unusual genus of Rubiaceae. The foreign counterpart researcher is Rogerio Gribel at Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazonia (INPA) in Manaus, Brazil. This study should contribute to a broader understanding of biogeographical patterns in other South American angiosperm groups with a similar distribution. A modern classification of Pagamea is imperative for establishing conservation priorities for rare or endangered members in South American countries. During this project a student who is a member of an underrepresented group will gain international experience, and contacts between three U.S. and Brazilian institutions will be strengthened.