NIMBioS Working Group: Species Delimitation
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| Species Delimitation Working Group, Meeting 2 (Back row, L to R): G. Stuart, E. Allman, C. Ane, L. Knowles, Z. Yang, S. Petrovic, B. O'Meara, B. Rannala, D. Haws. (Front row, L to R): B. Weisrock, S. Smith, S. Edwards, R. Yoshida, L. Kubatko, J. Chai |
Topic: Biological, computational, and mathematical problems in gene tree-based species delimitations
Organizers: David Weisrock (Dept. of Biology, Univ. of Kentucky); Ruriko Yoshida (Dept. of Statistics, Univ. of Kentucky)
Meeting dates: December 2-4, 2010; September 22-24, 2011
Project summary: Modern biological study is increasingly being pursued through synergistic collaborations between biology and higher mathematics. Important connections are beiing established between computational evolutionary biology and the emerging field of "algebraic statistics," which combines combinatorics, computational algebra, polyhedral geometry and statistical modeling. The primary objective of this working group is to bring together new and established researchers in mathematics, biology, and statistics in order to discuss challenges in a growing field that applies gene trees reconstructed from DNA sequence data to delimiting species. Identifying species is a fundamental task in biological study. However, mathematical and computational challenges remain in the application of genealogical criteria to species delimitation. Many of these limitations are interrelated with each other. Consequently, it is very important that researchers in mathematics, statistics, and the life sciences work together to overcome these challenges. In this working group, we will highlight and work on what we see as the major challenges that would benefit from an integrated research approach across the biological and mathematical sciences.
Meeting Summaries for NIMBioS Working Group: Species Delimitation
| Meeting 1, Dec 2-4, 2010 | Agenda (PDF) | Participants | Evaluation report (PDF) | Photo |
Meeting 1 summary. Three main topics or questions to serve as the current focus of the group were identified. First, there is a need to understand the relative performance of many genetically-based species delimitation methods under a range of evolutionary scenarios. A series of simulation studies is being developed to address this issue. This work is intended to serve as the basis of a major review paper and will guide further methodological development. Second, discussions often returned to the question of "What is it that we are delimiting?" particularly in terms of how existing and new methods are approached. Third, there was a strong desire to expand upon the existing framework that guides species delimitation. Breakout sessions led to a number of ideas that will be the source of continued work, including models that can account for non-neutral loci or models that can simultaneously consider many forms of data, including genetics, geography and morphology.
| Meeting 2, Sep 22-24, 2011 | Agenda (PDF) | Participants |
NIMBioS Working Groups are chosen to focus on major scientific questions at the interface between biology and mathematics. NIMBioS is particularly interested in questions that integrate diverse fields, require synthesis at multiple scales, and/or make use of or require development of new mathematical/computational approaches. NIMBioS Working Groups are relatively small (10-12 participants, with a maximum of 15), focus on a well-defined topic, and have well-defined goals and metrics of success. Working Groups will typically meet 2-4 times over a two-year period, with each meeting lasting 3-5 days; however, the number of participants, number of meetings, and duration of each meeting is flexible, depending on the needs and goals of the Group.
