ID: 613 / 74

Category: Symposia

Track: Pending

Proposed Symposium Title: BEYOND BIOGEOGRAPHY: ADAPTATION AND DIVERSIFICATION ACROSS THE INDO-PACIFIC

Abstract: The Indo-Pacific is a complex region encompassing several micro-continents with unique tectonic and geomorphologic histories. The region comprises numerous islands at the confluence of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The ring of fire, which includes the Pacific Plate and Philippine plate, exhibits high volcanic activity because of tectonic plate movements. Although the Indo-Pacific region is divided into several regions (Micronesia, Melanesia, Polynesia, Papuasia, Malesia), its biogeographic patterns are connected. Many biotic, abiotic, and historical drivers have been suggested as mechanisms for diversification in the Indo-Pacific region; however, the evolutionary processes responsible for the region’s biodiversity remain poorly understood. Because of their isolation and ontogeny, most of the island’s geographic distribution patterns have been influenced by long-distance dispersal. The different island environments, habitats, and geological features, have resulted in highly differentiated flora with numerous endemics. The Indo-Pacific region includes nine global biodiversity hotspots with high endemism rates. The integration of genomic data, evolutionary history, niche and biogeographic modeling, and temporal studies will allow us to identify and quantify mechanisms generating and maintaining species diversity. Talks by early career scientists will integrate biogeography, floristics, community assembly, statistical modeling and ecology within a phylogenetic framework to examine adaptation and diversification across the region and in particular clades. Moreover, this symposium will assemble and discuss ongoing research across different aspects and taxonomic levels in the Indo-Pacific region, and explore future research directions. The symposium offers scientists of all career-stages, gender, and ethnicity working on biogeography and evolution of the Indo-Pacific flora an excellent opportunity to identify knowledge gaps, share their latest findings, and network with colleagues in the field.

Speaker 1: Else Demeulenaere University of Guam, Center for Island Sustainability and Sea Grant 303 University Drive, Mangilao, GU 96923 else@uog.edu Phylogenomic data informs biogeographic and diversification patterns of Serianthes (Fabaceae) in the Indo-Pacific region

Speaker 2: Isaac Overcast University of Maine, School of Biology & Ecology 23 Flagstaff Rd, Orono, ME 04469 isaac.overcast@maine.edu Using community-scale genetic data to understand adaptation and diversification in island systems

Speaker 3: Lorena Endara Clemson University, Department of Biological Sciences 132 Long Hall, Clemson, SC 29634 cendara@clemson.edu A phylogenomic perspective on the diversification of Araucariaceae in the South Pacific

Topics (Up to three): Biogeography / Phylogeography

Topic 2: Bioinformatics & Statistical Modelling

Topic 3: Floristics

Justification: Scientists have worked to inventory the vascular flora of the Indo-Pacific region and reconstruct phylogenies for particular plant genera for some time. However, few studies have investigated the region for broad phylogenetic patterns and evolutionary processes across the islands and no studies have explicitly tested speciation models in Indo-Pacific plants. Synthesizing existing data, taking advantage of powerful sequencing technologies and new innovative statistical approaches to fill these gaps in knowledge will catalyze communication and collaborations between botanists with a focus and interest in the biogeography and the evolution of the highly endemic flora of the Indo-Pacific.