Assessing key evolutionary innovations and founder events as drivers of speciation: an integrated phylogenetic approach to the study of evolutionary diversification in the genus Meiogyne (Annonaceae)

Professor Saunders, Richard Mark Kingsley   (Principal Investigator (PI))

Dr Scharaschkin Tanya   (Co-Investigator)

Dr Tang Chin Cheung   (Co-Investigator)

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2017-01-01

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Assessing key evolutionary innovations and founder events as drivers of speciation: an integrated phylogenetic approach to the study of evolutionary diversification in the genus Meiogyne (Annonaceae)

biogeography, evolution, phylogenetics, pollination ecology, speciation

Biodiversity and Systematics,Ecology

Biology and Medicine (M)

17112616

General Research Fund (GRF)

2016

Completed

1 To complete a species-level taxonomic monograph of the genus Meiogyne based on phylogenetically consistent taxon delimitations, with a detailed assessment of key morphological features (including inner petal ‘glands’ and fruit pericarp) 2 To reconstruct a taxonomically comprehensively sampled and well-resolved phylogeny of Meiogyne based on a combination of nuclear and chloroplast DNA markers, and to assess ancestral morphological character states, thereby identifying candidate key evolutionary innovations 3 To evaluate the floral biology and pollination ecology of selected Meiogyne species (including assessments of floral phenology, thermogenesis, scent chemistry, pollinators, and plant breeding system) in order to better understand functional interactions and to test the hypothesis of an evolutionary shift in pollination system 4 To develop biogeographical hypotheses for Meiogyne based on ancestral area reconstructions in conjunction with molecular divergence time estimations, and to assess the overall contribution of founder-event speciation using contrasting biogeographical models 5 To develop ecological niche models for extant Meiogyne species based on their climatic and edaphic tolerances and hence to reconstruct the most likely niche models for ancestral nodes in the phylogeny, thereby enabling the identification of possible evolutionary shifts in ecological preferences 6 To assess the importance of potential key evolutionary innovations and founder events by identifying correlations with changes in speciation and diversification rates using contrasting analytical approaches based on either the a priori or a posteriori identification of key-innovation and founder-event lineages