Ecological Determinants of Genetic Structure in a Plant Meta-population

元种群是被细分为许多短暂的、相互作用较弱的亚组分的种群。集合种群的遗传特性在很大程度上是由伴随着局部亚组分的灭绝和重新定居的遗传过程决定的。这些过程是最近理论分析的主题，但在性质上没有得到很好的研究。这项研究将调查Silene Alba的集合种群的遗传特性，Silene Alba是一种草本植物，作为研究集合种群所需的背景数据，它是详细的、长期的人口分析的对象。这个项目要问的基本问题是，相对于类似细分但没有灭绝和重新殖民化的种群，当地种群的反复灭绝和重新定居是否会增加或减少遗传分化。这项工作将包括对元种群的遗传属性的研究，旨在了解基因流动机制的额外人口统计学研究，以及理论模型的扩展。对花粉和种子流动的实验研究，以及从种子库中招募，将评估基因流动的来源，无论是进入现有种群还是作为建立新种群的过程的一部分。理论的扩展将在一定程度上受到实证工作结果的指导。//

Meta-populations are populations which are subdivided into many ephemeral, weakly interacting subcomponents. The genetic properties of metapopulations are determined, in large part, by genetic processes accompanying the extinction and recolonization of the local subcomponents. These processes have been the subject of recent theoretical analysis but are not well studied in nature. This study will investigate the population genetic properties of a meta-population of Silene alba, an herbaceous plant that has been the subject of the detailed, long-term demographic analysis required as background data for the study of meta-populations. The basic question to be asked in this project is whether the repeated extinction and recolonization of local demes acts to increase or to diminish genetic differentiation, relative to a similarly subdivided population but without extinction and recolonization. The work will include studies of the genetic properties of the meta-population, additional demographic studies geared towards understanding mechanisms of gene flow, and extension of the theoretical models. Experimental studies of pollen and seed flow, and recruitment from the seed bank, will evaluate sources of gene flow, both into established populations and as part of the process by which new populations are established. Extension of theory will be guided, in part, by the results of the empirical work. //