Abstract Detail

Where is plant systematics headed in the next ten years?

Wen, Jun [1], Ree, Richard [2], Ickert-Bond, Stefanie M. [3], Nie, Zelong [4], Funk, Vicki [5].

Biogeography: Where do we go from here?

In this talk, we consider the future of historical biogeography, the study of species distributions through time at macroevolutionary scales. The field has a long and colorful history, and the last decade in particular has seen a proliferation of new inference methods designed to fully exploit the increasing availability of time-calibrated molecular phylogenetic trees. These include the dispersal-extinction-cladogenesis (DEC) model implemented in Lagrange, Bayesian stochastic search variable selection (BSSVS) implemented in BEAST, and Markov models of dispersal among islands implemented in MrBayes. These methods are being used with increasingly sophisticated methods for molecular dating and analysis of speciation and extinction rates to gain insights from temporal and spatial patterns of species diversification. In the next decade, analytical challenges are emerging from three visible trends: (1) phylogenies are getting much bigger; (2) phylogeography is becoming increasingly genomic, especially with the use of next-generation sequencing approaches such as RADSeq; and (3) large volumes of distributional data are accumulating in biogeographic databases. As a result, it seems inevitable that data mining methods will become essential tools of the trade for biogeographic research, and that new statistical and computational methods will be needed for efficient and robust inferences. This will in turn stimulate more empirical biogeographic analyses at various scales. Biogeography is moving increasingly toward open access, multidimensional syntheses of geography, phylogeny, ecology, geology, paleontology, physiology, and genomics, and its relevance to studies of evolution will remain stronger than ever.

Broader Impacts:

1 - Smithsonian Institution, Botany, MRC-166 National Museum Of Natural History, 10th St. & Constitution Ave., NW, MRC 166, Washington/DC, N/A, 20013-7012, USA
2 - Field Museum Of Natural History, Botany, 1400 S Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL, 60605, USA
3 - University Of Alaska Museum Of The North, Herbarium (ALA) And Dept. Of Biology And Wildlife, University Of Alaska Fairbanks, 907 Yukon Dr., Fairbanks, AK, 99775, USA
4 - Kunming Institute of Botany, Key Laboratory of Biodiversity and biogeography, Kunming, Yunnan, 650204, China
5 - Smithsonian Institution, DEPT OF BOTANY-NHB 166, P.O. Box 37012, Washington, DC, 20013-7012, USA, 202/633-0950

Keywords:
biogeography
Phylogeography
historical
DEC
future
BEAST
MrBayes
databases
Genomics.

Presentation Type: Symposium or Colloquium Presentation
Session: SY07
Location: Franklin A/Hyatt
Date: Tuesday, July 10th, 2012
Time: 4:45 PM
Number: SY07008
Abstract ID:845