The New Zealand Plant Radiation Network (NZPRN) website has moved to a new wiki at http://nzprn.otago.ac.nz/wiki/bin/view/NZPRN/WebHome
Please visit the wiki for the most up-to-date information about the Network.

Welcome to the New Zealand Plant Radiation Network (NZPRN) website. Here you will find information on research being conducted on species radiation in the New Zealand flora.

The NZPRN is open to everyone interested in plant evolutionary biology. Please contact one of the people of the organizing committee if you would like to join.

What is species radiation?
What are plant species radiations, and why are they important? Understanding how global plant biodiversity arose and is maintained requires an understanding of plant species radiation - a process of diversification that produces morphologically and ecologically distinct, but genetically similar, species from a single founding population. Species radiations are a feature of many world floras including that of New Zealand. Developing our understanding of species radiation will help us to understand the nature, evolutionary potential and adaptability of our flora to environmental change.

Research on New Zealand plant species radiations
The well understood geological and climatic record for New Zealand, together with the simple complexity of our flora provides for a unique model system to investigate plant evolutionary and ecological processes. Some examples of plant groups that have radiated extensively in New Zealand include Asplenium, Blechnum, Celmisia, Dracophyllum, Epilobium, Hebe/Veronica, Ourisia, Pachycladon, and Ranunculus, among others. Making the most of opportunities to study and understand these plants requires interdisciplinary research in palynology, morphology, ecology, physiology and in studies of genetic variation. It requires the collaboration of biologists, mathematicians, physicists, computer
scientists, climatologists and geologists.

It is with this collaborative spirit in mind that we would like to introduce the New Zealand Plant Radiation Network (NZPRN).  The NZPRN aims to bring together researchers interested in botanical research to promote collaboration and discussion of ideas, methods and projects around several themes including: delimitation of species, ecological drivers of radiation, reconstructing the evolutionary history of species radiations, and evolutionary significance of hybridisation and polyploidy.

An associated group is the New Zealand Plant Conservation Network (NZPCN). The New Zealand Plant Conservation Network was established in 2003 with the vision that 'no indigenous species of plant will become extinct nor be placed at risk of extinction as a result of human action or indifference, and that the rich, diverse and unique plant life of New Zealand will be recognised, cherished and restored'. Members of the Network will collaborate to protect and restore New Zealand's indigenous plant life and their natural habitats and associated species. More on the Network can be found at http://www.nzpcn.org.nz.