基于分子系统发育，用比较系统发育及功能性状检测法，使人们更深入了解生物多样性在局域、地区和全球范围的形成和进化。目前利用以上方法对洲际间断分布植物和相关微生物多样性和功能的整合研究仍未见。本项目选10个东亚(EA)与北美东部(ENA)间断分布中生混交林群落典型样地，在个体、群落和生态系统三水平上分析植物和微生物功能与多样性关系，研究群落及重要间断分布类群的系统发育。在植物个体水平，将度量与叶片经济学及凋落物分解和微生物营养等密切相关的功能性状；在群落水平，比较大陆间及群落间群落结构、种属分化和功能性状分布；在生态系统水平，调查样地植物生产力、冠层结构等数据，分析中生混交林在多样性、功能及协同多样化在内的植物和微生物间关系。利用气候模型和生态位模拟预测植物和微生物分布，揭示植物和微生物群落如何响应气候变化。最终阐明地史制史制约、局域适应和种间互作在间断分布群落构建及多样性形成中的相对作用。

Molecular phylogenetic data, together with comparative phylogenetics, genetics and function traits can provide novel insights into biodiversity and evolution at local, regional, and global scales. However, few if any such studies have attempted to integrate plant and associated microbial diversity, as well as function, in a phylogenetic context across a major intercontinental disjunction. In this project, we propose to investigate the relationships between plant and microbial diversity and functions at multiple scales ranging from individual to comminuty and to ecosystem via comparative analyses of selected disjunct lineages and also at 10 appropriate ecological sites. We will leverage the unique opportunities afforded by the ENA-EA floristic disjunction to establish an historical context and address integrative questions at the interface of function, phylogenetics and both microbial and plant diversity, and answer fundamental evolutionary questions regarding the maintenance and future of biodiversity at these scales. We will also investigate climate change projections to assess the possible future distributions of microbial and plant diversity in these relict forests. We will integrate these analyses across two continents that share a once continuous forest community to understand how microbial diversity varies geographically within a single forest type, how the microbial community co-diversifies with plant species, and moreover, if there are similar patterns of diversity, function, and relationships, including co-diversification, observed across the mixed mesophytic forests of ENA and EA. The results will enable the elucidation of the relative importance of historical constraints, local adaptation and species interactions in shaping diversity and function of co-distributed plant and microbial communities across EA-ENA disjunction .