This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biological Informatics for 2000.
The research and training plan is in the area of Population Biology and is entitled "A Comparative Phylogeographic Approach to Studying Biodiversity". Evolutionary and geographical factors influencing patterns of amphibian biodiversity are investigated by analyzing, within three different genera (Ensatina, Taricha, and Batrochoseps), multiple codistributed species for phylogeographic concordance. In addition, comparisons of current and historic population level processes across species provide strong inferences on factors impacting genetic divergence in zones of secondary contact. By combining spatial and genetic information across multiple species and populations, a more thorough understanding of the forces affecting speciation and regional biodiversity will result.
