| Abstract Detail
Recent Topics Posters Sedaghatpour, Maryam [1], Rothfels, Carl [2]. Evolution of the Levant flora. Mediterranean type climate regions are critical biodiversity hotspots as they cover less than 2% of the Earth’s land surface but hold almost 20% of the world’s vascular plant species. Despite this botanical richness, the evolution and conservation status of much of the native flora of the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea, the Levant, remains underexplored. My research aims to investigate the relative roles of biogeographic history and niche specialization in the Levant. If closely related, neo-endemic taxa tend to differ in their niche, this would suggest niche specialization. However, if a greater number of taxa in the Levant are paleo-endemic, or closely related neo-endemic taxa that significantly overlap in their niches, that would suggest biogeographic processes or evolutionary radiation respectively. In order to explore the factors influencing the evolution of the Levant flora I will utilize recently developed spatial phylogenetics methods that incorporate evolutionary history as a measure of diversity. I will use maximum likelihood and Bayesian frameworks to infer the first phylogenetic tree of the Levant flora. This tree will be used to identify patterns of paleo- and neo-endemism throughout the landscape using CANAPE. Additionally, I will compare the spatial distribution of paleo- and neo-endemic taxa in the Levant to that of the other mediterranean type climate regions to better understand the general processes driving the extreme concentrations of biodiversity in mediterranean biomes. To address this, distribution data from GBIF, BIENdata, and the Post Herbarium’s database will be compiled with floristic checklists to model species distribution with Maxent niche models. This will then be compared with similar studies on the other mediterranean type climate regions. Lastly, I will use BioGeoBEARS to infer the biogeographic history of the taxa that are determined to be paleo-endemic.
Log in to add this item to your schedule
1 - University of California, Berkeley, Integrative Biology, 3040 Valley Life Sciences Building # 3140, Berkeley, California, 94720, United States
2 - University of California, Berkeley, 3040 Valley Life Sciences Building # 3140, Berkeley, California, 94720, United States
Keywords:
Levant
Mediterranean
spatial phylogenetics
mediterranean type climate.
Presentation Type:
Session: P, Recent Topics Posters
Location: Arizona Ballroom/Starr Pass
Date: Monday, July 29th, 2019
Time: 5:30 PM
Number: PRT035
Abstract ID:1417
Candidate for Awards:None |
