PDIVCHINA

Plant biodiversity of China in a changing world: evolution and conservation

 Coordinatore KOBENHAVNS UNIVERSITET 

 Organization address postcode: 1017

contact info
Titolo: Mr.
Nome: Ivan
Cognome: Kristoffersen
Email: send email
Telefono: +45 35323915
Fax: +45 35324612

 Nazionalità Coordinatore Denmark [DK]
 Totale costo 215˙390 €
 EC contributo 215˙390 €
 Programma FP7-PEOPLE
Specific programme "People" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013)
 Code Call FP7-PEOPLE-2010-IEF
 Funding Scheme MC-IEF
 Anno di inizio 2011
 Periodo (anno-mese-giorno) 2011-05-01   -   2013-04-30

 Partecipanti

# participant  country  role  EC contrib. [€] 
1 KOBENHAVNS UNIVERSITET DK coordinator 215˙390.40

Mappa


 Word cloud

Esplora la "nuvola delle parole (Word Cloud) per avere un'idea di massima del progetto.

plant    prehistoric    phylogenies    center    hypotheses    global    questions    species    conservation    china    shifts    relationships    additionally    families    region    world    data    evolution    woody    mechanisms    natural    yet    quality    quercus    evolutionary    diversity    biology    climate    plants    distributions    modern    biodiversity    hotspots    eastern    contemporary    rural    pdivchina    history    endangered    macroecology    phylogenetic    oldest    patterns    scientific    mapped    rhododendron    richness   

 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'What determines large-scale patterns of species richness remains one of the oldest unresolved questions in biology. A plethora of hypotheses have been proposed to explain such patterns, most of which focus on the effects of contemporary processes and environment, especially those associated with climate. A current challenge for ecologists is to link the effect of such contemporary factors with factors associated with the evolutionary history of a region and its species.

By combining novel methods in macroecology with species distribution modeling in an integrated framework, I will explore the geographical patterns in species richness and associated phylogenetic structures using high-quality data of plant distributions and phylogenetic information. Additionally, I will determine the threats to plant biodiversity caused by global change in climate. Based on the identification of hotspots of evolutionary history and global changes, I will evaluate the efficiency of the nature reserve network in China.

My research will focus on eastern Asia using information on 11,405 species of woody plants. This large biogeographical region contains steep spatial variation in diversity and climate, making it immensely suitable for testing hypotheses proposed to explain species richness patterns. It is a region that has yet to be rigorously investigated using high quality data. Thus, knowledge from this project will compliment the many related studies based on European and North American data, thereby facilitating a more global overview on these issue.

I will be supervised by Prof. Carsten Rahbek, a leading scientist of macroecology and global change ecology, and hosted by the Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, a Center of Excellence at the Univ. of Copenhagen, Denmark. The proposed project, PDIVCHINA, will substantially improve my scientific competencies by providing multidisciplinary knowledge and advanced training for complementary scientific skills.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

Understanding the mechanisms that drive biodiversity and species richness is critical to plant conservation in the face of climate change. However, these mechanisms remain one of biology's great unsolved mysteries.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

In the face of modern climate change, conservation depends on an understanding of what influences regional and global plant diversity. The plant biodiversity observed today is at least partially due to prehistoric climate patterns that influenced evolutionary history. And yet, questions remain regarding the large-scale biodiversity ramifications of ongoing climate shifts.

EU-funded researchers recognised that molecular and taxonomic relationships (phylogenies), compared with contemporary species distributions, could answer some questions. Working on the project 'Plant biodiversity of China in a changing world: Evolution and conservation' (PDIVCHINA), researchers focused on massive datasets for the Quercus and Rhododendron genera.

PDIVCHINA's results suggest prehistoric factors affected modern Quercus and Rhododendron distribution. In particular, where species' ranges decreased, evidence of prehistoric influence increased. Similarly, the high diversity of Rhododendron species can be attributed in part to serious climate shifts in the late Eocene and early Oligocene.

Additionally, PDIVCHINA developed extensive phylogenies for woody plant families, along with genus-level phylogenies of 70 families. In analysing these evolutionary relationships, PDIVCHINA found explicit results. South-eastern China hosts the oldest species; moving northward, there is a trend towards younger species.

PDIVCHINA also mapped the species distribution of 7 680 woody plants. With these maps in hand, researchers investigated how plants would respond to four distinct climate change scenarios. Intensive heterogeneity is most likely, and the Tibetan Plateau is likely to experience an advent of woody species, while southern China would lose these. Interestingly, PDIVCHINA predicted that phylogenetic diversity could be conserved at the family level, but species-level loses are to be expected.

Addressing contemporary conservation challenges, the researchers mapped China's biodiversity hotspots. They also assessed the relative phylogenetic diversity of China's endangered woody plants. PDIVCHINA then evaluated the socioeconomic and ecosystem services associated with woody plants within and outside the nation's natural reserves. The research team concluded that forest conservation is linked to rural poverty, and must therefore be included in rural development strategies.

PDIVCHINA has provided the world a refined picture of how climate shifts may affect plant biodiversity and the behaviour of humans who live near endangered plant species. Such comprehensive awareness is essential for scientists and policymakers tasked with conserving China's natural heritage.

Altri progetti dello stesso programma (FP7-PEOPLE)

METOIL (2011)

METABOLOMICS OF TIDAL ORGANISMS TO INDICATE OIL POLLUTION

Read More  

FISHSPECIATIONGENOME (2013)

Fish Speciation and the Origin of Marine Biodiversity: A Comparative Genomics Approach

Read More  

BSPS (2010)

Development of a unified speech processing strategy for combined electric and acoustic auditory stimulation

Read More