New Zealand is host to an exceptional number of biotic radiations, largely unstudied, which pose fundamental questions about evolution on islands and about establishing conservation priorities to preserve evolutionary potential. This NZ-based working will merge phylogenetic and ecological information to understand the ecology of species radiations. The key elements needed are:
1. Phylogenetic trees and node dates for NZ radiations of interest.
2. Ecologically-informative species traits across present-day species.
3. Habitat properties of present-day species.
4. Information about environmental conditions in NZ at different times into the past.
5. Intellectual and software tools for merging data about present-day species (LENZ) with phylogenetic trees (phylomatic) to produce data about divergences.

At the first meeting in January 2006 two tasks were developed to progress this research. A review of the formation of the New Zealand flora would be undertaken (led by Bill Lee) to provide a context for hypotheses addressed in specific research. Secondly, tasks were aligned to individuals to progress data compilations for the key elements. It was agreed to have an update get together in 4-6 months following the first meeting as part of producing a second manuscript on radiations in specific clades.

Last updated March 2006