Diversification of Bignonieae in the wetland savannas of Central Amazonia

• Grant number: 07/54903-0
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: March 01, 2008
• End date: August 31, 2010
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Botany
• Principal Investigator: Lúcia Garcez Lohmann
• Grantee: Lúcia Garcez Lohmann
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The processes responsible for the origin of the diversity of plants in Amazonia remain for the most part unknown. Furthermore, few studies seek to understand the establishment of reproductive isolation between taxa, principally with focus on the patterns of intraspecific variation and/or variation between closely related species. In Amazonia, we find an environment with great potential for the study of mechanisms responsible for speciation in plants: prairies / savannas, which display and insular spatial distribution and an endemic flora. In this project we propose to describe the patterns of morphological, ecological and genetic variation in data endemic to the prairies and savannas belonging to the Bignonieae (Bignoniaceae) tribe, aiming to understand the processes involved in the diversification of this group of plants in this system of islands. The present project includes questions related to the influence of the spatial distribution as well as the type of habitat in the isolation and differentiation of populations and species in this clade. In addition to this, broader questions related to the biogeography of Amazonia as a whole will also be tackled. (AU)