Molecular evolution and adaptive radiation in drought-adapted plant groups of the coastal deserts of Chile and Peru

• Applicant: Dr. Julio Valentin Schneider
• Subject Area: Evolution and Systematics of Plants and Fungi
• Term: from 2002 to 2006
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 5362737

Mechanisms of adaptive radiation as a consequence of adaptation to the arid conditions of the Chilean-Peruvian coastal deserts (Loma formations) will be studied in the genera Cristaria Cav., Palaua Cav. (Malvaceae), and in Cruckshanksia Hook. & Arn. (Rubiaceae). Since the coatal deserts are embraced by the high Andes (upt to 6000 m a.s.l.) many taxa are supposed to have Andean origins and to be derived from taxa of more mesic environmental conditions. The floristic communities of the lomas essentially function as terrestrial islands separated by hyperarid habitats where virtually no plants exist. Thus, conditions are comparable to those observed on island archipelagos, the paradigm of many radiations. The disparate histories of origin and migration of the selected taxa allows the comparative analysis of different stages of adaptive radiation. The study will focus on adaptions of vegetative traits, particularly the niche differentiation with reference to different life forms (geophytes, hemicryptophytes, chamaephytes, etc.) and its molecular base. Morphological, karyological, and molecular (principally AFLP) methods will be applied to recognize local differentiation and recent taxonomic and genetic divergence events.

• DFG Programme: Priority Programmes
• Subproject of: SPP 1127: Radiations - Origins of Biological Diversity