Current approaches to predicting changes in community structure and function fail to consider relationships between species' attributes that affect their ecological function, genetic variation underlying those functional traits, and the dynamics of the communities of which they are part. This project will focus on Protea and Pelargonium, two South African plant genera that have undergone dramatic diversification and currently span two biodiversity hot spots, the fynbos and succulent karoo biomes in the Greater Cape Floristic Region (GFCR). This project will develop an understanding of functional trait variation in both genetic and evolutionary contexts, allowing predictions of the characteristics of communities in which they occur and the resilience of those communities to climate change. The project will examine detailed relationships between functional traits, photosynthesis, water use efficiency and leaf life span, including the genetic basis of trait variation and rates of trait diversification. This information will be used to examine effects of taxonomic and trait diversity on ecosystem resilience in response to fire cycle interval.
The project will expose postdoctoral scholars, graduate students, undergraduates and high school students to international research, including students actively recruited from underserved populations both in the US and South Africa. It will actively enhance conservation infrastructure by working closely in all aspects of the project with the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) to promote biodiversity science, policy and conservation action.
