Dissertation Research: Dispersal in Metapopulations of Butterflies: Implications for the Dynamics and Genetic Structure of Local Populations

了解传播对人口的重要性 斑块状分布的物种对于 种群生态学、进化生物学和保护 生物学 扩散可以通过以下方式影响人口波动： 移民率和移民率的差异， 流动，可以对遗传结构产生重大影响， 人口。 此外，一个物种的区域持久性 容易发生局部灭绝可能取决于高扩散水平 足以让空置的栖息地频繁地重新利用， 补丁. 这个领域有很强的理论基础，但 相对较少的实证研究， 重要的问题 这项研究探讨了分散在人口中的作用 一个斑块状分布的 蝶类Euphilotes enoptes。 贴片的相互作用 质量和隔离与当地人口的动态 将实验与对个体行为的观察相结合， 将研究每年的人口波动情况。 贴片 隔离和大小将与基因流和 通过mtDNA调查分配遗传变异 标记。 最后，通过研究两个集合种群， 从一个单一的集合种群的结果的普遍性 物种将被检查。

Understanding the importance of dispersal to populations of patchily distributed species is critical to the fields of population ecology, evolutionary biology, and conservation biology. Dispersal can influence population fluctuations through differences in immigration and emigration rates and, through gene flow, can have a major influence on the genetic structure of populations. In addition, the regional persistence of a species prone to local extinction can depend on levels of dispersal high enough to allow frequent recolonization of vacant habitat patches. This area has a strong theoretical basis, but there has been relatively little empirical research directed at answering the important questions. This study examines the role of dispersal in the population dynamics and genetic structure of a patchily distributed butterfly species, Euphilotes enoptes. The interplay of patch quality and isolation with the dynamics of local populations by coupling experiments with observations of individual behavior and year-to-year population fluctuations will be studied. Patch isolation and size will be related to gene flow and the allocation of genetic variability through a survey of mtDNA markers. Finally, by studying two metapopulations, The generalizability of results from a single metapopulation of a species will be examined.