DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Evolution of Resource Specilization in the Bark Beetle Genus Dendroctonus

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9623763 MITTON This award will provide funds for materials and supplies as well as extended travel for field studies in the southwestern US, Mexico and Guatemala related to the dissertation research of a graduate student, Scott T. Kelley, working with Dr. Jeffry B. Mitton at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Dr. Brian Farrell, who recently left the University of Colorado to accept a faculty position at Harvard University, is a coPI and will be involved in training the student in methods of phylogenetic analysis of molecular data. The research project of this student has two components: 1) a combined data phylogenetic analysis of species relationships among bark beetles in the genus Dendroctonous (Insecta: Coleoptera: Scolytidae), utilizing molecular (mtDNA) sequence data and morphological data and 2) population level studies of the degree of genetic diversity among populations of two of the species across a broad geographic range. Information from both studies will be utilized to test hypotheses concerning dietary shifts and specializations for these wood destroying insects. This award will provide support for a graduate student pursuing studies of the change in dietary breadth/specialization through time for a genus of beetles which includes some species that are major forest/timber pests. The results have potential value for applied research with major economic implications. Support for the training of graduate students in modern systematic and population biology methodologies is important for maintaining the workforce of scientists capable of addressing the questions and issues of biodiversity which are of increasing global concern.