REU: Natural Selection and Seasonal Polyphenism in a Complex Phenotype

动物的大多数特征都与进化有关 生物学家涉及复杂的特征： 与动物相关的方面。 例如，由 相互关联的骨骼系统。 大多数复杂的特征都会受到 他们所处的环境（称为表型） 可塑性）;因此，例如人类手的发展 可能受个体营养史的影响。 尽管如此复杂的特征的重要性， 自然选择如何在复杂的性状上起作用， 野生种群，或表型可塑性的后果， 选择这些特征。 这项研究将研究自然选择， 一个复杂性状的表型可塑性：翅膀 这是一种蝴蝶的色素沉着图案， 通过一系列野外实验， 研究将：（1）测量不同的自然选择 翅膀色素图案的各个方面，以及这些选择可能如何变化 （2）确定选择是否是由于 色素模式对体温调节或 伪装从潜在的捕食者;（3）测量 翅色素表型可塑性的选择结果 格局 这些实验将提供第一个详细的案例 自然环境中的季节变化及其机制的研究 选择一个复杂的，表型可塑性的性状。

Most features of animals of interest to evolutionary biologists involve complex traits: Sets or systems of interrelated aspects of the animal. For example composed of a system of interrelated bones. Most complex traits are influenced by the environment in which they develop (called phenotypic plasticity); thus for example the development of the human hand may be influenced by the nutritional history of the individual. Despite the importance of such complex traits, little is known quantitatively of how natural selection acts on complex traits in wild populations, or of consequences of phenotypic plasticity for selection on such traits. The proposed research will study natural selection and phenotypic plasticity of one complex trait: The wing pigmentation pattern of the butterfly, Pieris occidentalis. Using a series of field experiments in wild populations, the research will: (1) measure natural selection on different aspects of wing pigment pattern, and how such selections may vary seasonally; (2) determine whether selection is the result of the effects of pigment pattern on body temperature regulation or on camouflage from potential predators; and (3) measure the selective consequences of phenotypic plasticity in wing pigment pattern. These experiments will provide the first detailed case study of the mechanisms and seasonal variation in natural selection for a complex, phenotypically-plastic trait.