Dissertation Research: Consequences of Seasonal Variation for Within-Population Genetic Diversity

已调查的自然种群表现出大 遗传多样性，即基因差异 个人之间的化妆 这种可变性允许 以应对不断变化的环境。 变异性是 对种群至关重要，因为它允许种群进化 通过时间和空间的环境差异被认为是 是维持这种遗传变异性的两个主要因素。 空间异质性在一系列环境中很常见， 已经被证明支持遗传变异性。 特别 个体通常更好地适应他们的微环境， 因此，整个种群由许多个体组成 适应稍微不同的环境。 研究人员将通过实验测试， 更好地适应特定的季节。 通过 决定个体是否能更好地生长和繁殖 在一年中的不同时间，他们可以测试这个概念， 环境中的时间和空间差异是 保持遗传多样性的重要性。 没有实验使用 植物已经明确测试了环境的重要性， 季节或年份的差异。 除了了解支持的基本机制之外， 遗传多样性，植物季节性知识 人口可能有实际的好处。 除草剂效力 例如，应用程序在某种程度上取决于何时在 在植物的生命周期中施用除草剂。 此外，如果A 群体代表了适应不同环境的基因型阵列， 季节，特定的个体或种群可能具有 能够坚持或“预先适应”改变的 环境 人口对全球环境的反应 气候变暖等变化可以预测。 预测 灭绝或种群的遗传变化可以用来 研究群落物种组成的潜在变化 和生态系统。

Natural populations which have been surveyed exhibit large amounts of genetic diversity, i.e., differences in the genetic makeup between individuals. This variability allows the population to respond to a changing environment. Variability is crucial to a population because it allows a population to evolve. Differences in the environment through time and space are thought to be two primary factors maintaining this genetic variability. Spatial heterogeneity is common in a range of environments and has been shown to support genetic variability. Particular individuals are often better adapted to their microenvironment, thus the population as a whole is comprised of many individuals adapted to slightly different environments. The investigators will experimentally test if individuals of a population are better adapted to particular seasons. By determining whether individuals grow and reproduce better at different times within the year, they can test the notion that temporal as well as spatial differences in the environment are important in maintaining genetic diversity. No experiments using plants have explicitly tested the importance of environmental differences among seasons or years. In addition to understanding underlying mechanisms supporting genetic diversity, knowledge of the seasonality of plant populations may be of practical benefit. Efficacy of herbicide applications, for example, is partially a function of when during the plant life-cycle an herbicide is applied. Additionally, if a population represents an array of genotypes adapted to different seasons, particular individuals or populations may have the ability to persist in or be "preadapted" to an altered environment. A population's response to a global environmental change such as warming maybe predicted. Predictions of extinction or genetic change by populations may then be used to examine potential shifts in species composition of communities and ecosystems.