The Environmental and Plant Biology Colloquium Series presents Dr. Vicki Funk on “Evolution of Life in Pacific Oceania: A pattern analysis” on Friday, March 17, at 11:50 a.m. in Porter Hall 104.
Dr. Vicki Funk
Funk is a Senior Research Botanist and Curator at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, in Washington, D.C.
Abstract: Composed of a vast sea with 25,000 islands and reefs, the diverse Pacific realm occupies a third of the planet and holds a crucial place in the Earth’s history and resources. Pacific waters nurture two-thirds of the world’s marine biodiversity and the islands are rich in endemic plants and animals. Pacific islands are often considered microcosms that can be analyzed in depth and used to predict the behavior of more complex continental ecosystems. There is an effort underway to coordinate research results and ask questions such as: How have physical, ecological and evolutionary processes interacted to form Pacific island ecosystems and their native biota? Part of that effort seeks to find common biogeographic patterns created by using molecular phylogenies in conjunction with morphological data and distribution. The results of recent research studies (from plants, birds and invertebrates) focus on a variety of topics, including some that determine the areas of origin of island biota, test hypotheses of dispersal, examine non-radiating taxa and fossil history, and ask interesting evolutionary questions about rapid speciation, loss of dispersability, adaptive radiations, convergent evolution, modes of speciation, ages of biota and the impact of extinction. This synthesis of recent research demonstrates the power of underling patterns to help us understand the evolution of life in the Pacific.
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