Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Biological diversity is essential for healthy ecosystems and is a key component of a nation's wealth. To manage this resource it is imperative to understand biodiversity from the genetic to the ecosystem level. Part of this task is the preparation of biological inventories, coupled with an understanding of biogeography and ecology. Establishing inventories requires a system of classification with which to document diversity, which, when based on relationships, additionally provides a guide for those seeking to survey species for economically-useful compounds (related species have related compounds). *** My major focus is on two ecologically and economically-important groups of macroalgae red (primary) and brown (secondary) seaweed. We will use powerful molecular tools to establish our contemporary inventories and derive our insights on relationships. These tools are more objective than anatomical expressions that may be influenced by convergent evolution or the environment in the form of plasticity. Specific objectives of the research program include:******1) to use molecular tools to establish the first comprehensive list of Canadian red and brown macroalgae; ***2) to use molecular phylogenetic tools to elucidate the evolutionary relationships within these lineages with the aim of including wide representation of the Canadian flora in a global context;***3) to utilize these global phylogenetic hypotheses to establish natural classifications and to assess character evolution (e.g. vegetative and reproductive anatomy, life history, and carbohydrate type); and,***4) to generate molecular data for biogeographic and population genetic analyses to explore recent (Pleistocene) speciation and migration along Canada's three coasts. Notably, preliminary data indicate: there has been an unexpected contribution of Californian flora to northern British Columbia (Kelp Conveyor Hypothesis) at the species level that has yet to be tested at the population level; there has been a significant contribution of the North Pacific flora to the Canadian Arctic (and Atlantic) flora(s) (Trans Arctic Biotic Exchange Hypothesis) in contrast to the Atlantic re-colonization paradigm; and there was a significant refugial contribution to our North Atlantic flora with the possibility that populations' on each side of the Atlantic in many cases actually represent sibling species.******Novel expected findings: The results will provide an invaluable resource for systematists and conservationists as we work to appreciate macroalgal diversity and relationships, monitor introduced species, explore changes in seaweed floras owing to climate change, and for industry in the search for novel products. Further, we will establish an understanding of past and contemporary migrations and introductions to acquire insights into future diversity and distribution of seaweeds in Canada's three oceans.