NERP TE Project 3.2 What is a risk? Identifying rainforest refugia and hotspots of plant genetic diversity in the Wet Tropics and Cape York Peninsula (JCU)

This project will map the genetic and phylogenetic diversity of northeast Queensland rainforest plants and fungi with a focus on the mountaintop species, which are regarded as among the most at risk from climate warming. The project consists of two nested subprojects. \n\nProject ¿a¿ (PD analysis) will provide a broad scale analysis of patterns of genetic diversity across the NE Qld rainforests. This study will investigate the relative performance of taxonomic richness and phylogenetic diversity measures for conservation priority setting in the Wet Tropics and Cape York rainforest contexts. We will use the results to identify and map areas of high biodiversity significance and investigate correlations with environmental and ecological variables. Preliminary results to date show that areas with higher PD than expected contain a higher proportion of immigrant plant lineages dispersed mostly from Southeast Asia within the past few million years. Our results demonstrate how the integration of historical data and PD can more effectively inform conservation priority setting particularly in biomes with complex evolutionary histories. \n\nProject ¿b¿ (mountain-top diversity) takes a finer scale look at population-level genetic diversity in one highly restricted rainforest ecosystem ¿ mountain-top rainforest ¿ projected to be most threatened by climate change. We will combine emerging genetic technologies with environmental, ecological and morphological information to: 1) elucidate the location and relative importance of high altitude refugia for plants in the Wet Tropics and Cape York Peninsula Bioregions and the mechanisms that influence the survival of populations and species; and 2) document the fungal biodiversity of the mountain tops.

本项目将针对昆士兰州东北部雨林的植物与真菌，系统性开展遗传多样性与系统发育多样性调研，重点聚焦山地顶端物种——这类类群被视为受气候变暖威胁最严重的类群之一。本项目包含两个嵌套子项目。

子项目a（系统发育多样性分析，Phylogenetic Diversity，以下简称PD）将对昆士兰州东北部雨林的遗传多样性格局展开大范围研究。本研究将对比分类单元丰富度与系统发育多样性指标，在湿热带（Wet Tropics）与约克角半岛（Cape York）雨林场景中用于保护优先级划定的相对表现。我们将依托研究结果识别并绘制高生物多样性价值区域，同时探究其与环境及生态变量的相关性。截至目前的初步研究结果显示，系统发育多样性高于预期值的区域，其源自过去数百万年间主要从东南亚扩散而来的外来植物支系占比更高。本研究证实，整合历史数据与系统发育多样性指标，可更高效地为保护优先级划定提供决策依据，在演化历史复杂的生物群区中尤为如此。

子项目b（山地顶端多样性研究）则以更精细的尺度，针对一类受气候变化威胁最为严峻的极度受限雨林生态系统——山地顶端雨林——开展种群水平的遗传多样性调研。我们将结合新兴遗传技术与环境、生态及形态学信息，达成两大研究目标：1）阐明湿热带与约克角半岛生物群区中植物高海拔避难所的位置及其相对重要性，以及影响种群与物种存续的核心机制；2）系统记录山地顶端的真菌生物多样性。