Reconstructing the great tree of life (Visiting Scholar)

Reconstruction of the Tree of Life, with more than 1.9 million described species, and many more millions undiscovered or extinct, presents a profound scientific challenge. While providing powerful insights into the past, the Tree of Life provides a new lens through which to interpret the patterns and processes of evolution, as well as the ability to predict the responses of life to rapid environmental change. Pam Soltis and I propose three specific activities that address interrelated goals for improving our understanding of the Tree of Life. We will: (1) assemble an international research team with expertise across diverse organisms to reconstruct the tree of all life, with 1 million representative species; (2) construct incrementally larger phylogenies, with an initial goal of 100,000 plant species (two times larger than any published tree) and an ultimate target of all green plant species; and (3) will explore the co-diversification of angiosperms and fungi and address the hypothesis that species diversification in one group triggered similar events in the other.

This resource has been withdrawn from the Duke Digital Repository.

NESCent materials were deaccessioned from the Duke Digital Repository in March 2026. Contact Hilmar Lapp (hilmar.lapp@duke.edu) with questions about NESCent.

Reconstructing the great tree of life (Visiting Scholar)

Project