Endemism, extinction risk, and evolutionary distinctiveness of tree flora in Tropical America

• Grant number: 24/22166-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: May 01, 2025
• End date: November 30, 2027
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology - Applied Ecology
• Principal Investigator: Renato Augusto Ferreira de Lima
• Grantee: Guilherme Salgado Grittz
• Host Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Human impacts on ecosystems have triggered alarming rates of species extinction. In the tropics, which harbor the planet's greatest biodiversity, these impacts have intensified over recent decades, further exacerbated by climate change. In these regions, the combination of high species diversity and limited human and financial resources necessitates conservation prioritization techniques capable of assessing thousands of species simultaneously. This project aims to identify which tree species in Tropical America should be prioritized for conservation based on their endemism, extinction risk, and evolutionary history. The following questions will be addressed: Which tree species are endemic to Tropical America, and how will future climate change affect their prevalence? Which species are most threatened, and what are their primary extinction risk factors? Which threatened species have unique evolutionary histories? To answer these questions, occurrence and abundance records will be integrated from sources such as GBIF and the most comprehensive compilation of vegetation inventories available for Tropical America, encompassing millions of observations for more than 20,000 tree species. These data will be analyzed using models that link the pace of climate change with endemism, multi-criteria extinction risk assessments, and phylogenies. For the first time, this proposal will provide an overview of endemism patterns, threats, and genetic diversity among tree species in Tropical America, laying a foundation for protecting some of the world's most threatened and biodiverse biomes.