Ecological Determinants of Genetic Structure in a Plant Meta-population

元种群是被细分为 许多短暂的、弱相互作用的子成分。 遗传 集合种群的性质在很大程度上取决于 伴随着灭绝和进化的遗传过程 本地子组件。 这些进程一直是 最近理论分析但没有很好研究的主题 在自然界中。 本研究将探讨群体遗传 的一个元种群的特性白蝇子草，一个草本植物 植物一直是详细的主题，长期 人口统计学分析作为研究的背景数据 集合种群 在这个项目中要问的基本问题是， 地方部落的一再灭绝和分化， 增加或减少遗传分化，相对于 类似细分的种群，但没有灭绝， 去离子化。 这项工作将包括研究基因 元人口的性质，其他人口统计学研究 旨在了解基因流动的机制， 理论模型的扩展。 的实验研究 花粉和种子的流动，以及种子库的补充， 评估基因流的来源，无论是进入既定的人口 作为新种群形成过程的一部分， 确立了习 理论的扩展将在一定程度上受到 实证工作的结果。//

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. //