Dimensions of Biodiversity: Parallel Evolutionary radiations in Protea and Pelargonium in the Greater Cape Floristic Region INTELLECTUAL MERIT: Current approaches to predicting changes in community structure and function

in the Greater Cape Floristic Region INTELLECTUAL MERIT: Current approaches to predicting changes in community structure and function are based largely on static assessments. They fail to consider relationships between species' attributes that affect their function in a given environment (functional traits), genetic variation underlying those functional traits, and the dynamics of the communities of which they are part. Each of these relationships reflects the unique evolutionary history of the lineage in question, and lineages that have flourished through dramatic historical climate change are likely to harbor significant information about functional trait evolution that will shed new light on adaptation and evolutionary potential. We focus on Protea and Pelargonium, two South African plant genera that have undergone dramatic diversification since the Miocene during long-term aridification and dramatic shifts in climate. Southern Africa has higher plant diversity than most tropical regions, yet much of this diversity stems from radiations in just 30 major lineages, including Protea and Pelargonium. These genera span two biodiversity hot spots, the fynbos and succulent karoo biomes in the Greater Cape Floristic Region (GFCR). Our overall goal is to develop an understanding of functional trait variation in both genetic and evolutionary contexts in Protea and Pelargonium. This will allow us to predict the characteristics of communities in which they occur and the resilience of those communities to climate change. To achieve these goals, we will answer three sets of hierarchically nested questions: I. How do functional traits vary within and between species? How are differences related to environmental variation (e.g., climate, soils, and fire)? What is the genetic basis of these differences? II. What are the phylogenetic histories of functional trait change? How are the rates of trait evolution related to changes in niche parameters? III. How are taxonomic and trait level diversity and abundance of focal taxa interrelated with community composition along environmental gradients? How are these patterns related to ecosystem resilience to fire?