CRB: Genetics of Ecological Restoration with Native Grasses

CRB：原生草类生态恢复的遗传学

• 批准号: 9531945
• 负责人: Kevin Rice
• 金额: $ 20万
• 依托单位: University of California-Davis
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1996
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1996-09-01 至 1999-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9531945&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CRB; Genetics; Ecological; Restoration; Native

Two widely grown grass species native to the western U. S. (Elymus glaucus and Nassella pulchra) will be used as model systems to determine the extent of adaptation across environmental gradients from coastal to interior sites in California. Adaptation to local environments will be determined in a series of reciprocal transplant experiments. If grass populations are found to be adapted to the local environment, this would indicate that seed should not be transferred outside of these regions. We will also determine the capacity of non-local populations to evolve the attributes of the local populations. Results of these studies will have broad implications for use of native grass germplasm. If populations are able to evolve in this manner, strict maintenance of the integrity of existing populations may in some situations be a lower priority than seed collection methods that maximize the amount of genetic variation in the initial collection. The proposed research will significantly increase the current understanding of the importance of different aspects of native grass adaptation to habitat restoration. Knowledge of 1) the spatial scales of local adaptation, 2) the evolutionary potential for further adaptation, 3) the evolutionary consequences of genetic contamination, and 4) the potential for unwanted genetic shifts in seed production will enhance the chances of successful establishment of native grass species. An increase in the use of these native species will promote the maintenance of biodiversity and facilitate the restoration of ecosystems with both healthy ecological function and evolutionary potential. Findings from these studies should assist with developing practical solutions that benefit both the native plant seed industry and ecosystem health.

两种原产于美国西部的广泛生长的草种（灰草和毛草）将被用作模型系统，以确定加州从沿海到内陆地区的环境梯度的适应程度。对当地环境的适应将在一系列互惠移植实验中确定。如果发现草种群适应当地环境，这将表明种子不应该转移到这些地区以外。我们还将确定非本地种群进化本地种群属性的能力。这些研究结果将对乡土草种质资源的利用具有广泛的指导意义。如果种群能够以这种方式进化，在某些情况下，严格维护现有种群的完整性可能比在初始收集中最大化遗传变异量的种子收集方法优先。本研究将显著提高对原生草适应不同方面对生境恢复重要性的认识。了解1)本地适应的空间尺度，2)进一步适应的进化潜力，3)遗传污染的进化后果，以及4)种子生产中潜在的不必要的遗传变化，将增加成功建立本地草物种的机会。增加对这些本地物种的利用将促进生物多样性的维持，并促进具有健康生态功能和进化潜力的生态系统的恢复。这些研究的结果应有助于制定切实可行的解决方案，既有利于本土植物种业，又有利于生态系统健康。