Dissertation Research: The Evolution of Specialized Floral Phenotypes in a Generalist Pollination Environment: Fitness Trade-offs in a Dudleya Species Complex

论文研究：通用授粉环境中专门花卉表型的进化：Dudleya 物种复合体中的适应性权衡

• 批准号: 0206488
• 负责人: Nickolas Waser
• 金额: $ 0.38万
• 依托单位: University of California-Riverside
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2002
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2002-07-01 至 2003-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0206488&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Dissertation; Research; Evolution; Specialized; Floral

Plants that are pollinated by several different types of animal nevertheless often have features which appear to adapt them to one particular type. The proposed research explores how such specialized adaptations can arise in a generalized "pollination environment", using several related plant species native to the southwestern US. Experiments in natural populations and in a flight cage will determine which pollinators (hummingbirds or bumblebees) are most important in selecting for particular features of flowers (flower length and width), and the degree to which flowers better adapted to one pollinator still can make use of the other.By exploring how floral adaptation arises, the research furthers our understanding of the evolution of distinct plant species, and thus the generation of biodiversity. An accelerating "biodiversity crisis", caused by extinction of species from human activities, is central to the science of conservation biology. Conservation biologists must understand how to prevent extinctions, but equally must understand the conditions that allow new species to evolve to replace extinct ones. The proposed experiments with a model plant-pollinator system will help us understand how the great diversity of flowering plant species has evolved, and thus how to promote ongoing evolution of new species and maintenance of biodiversity.

然而，被几种不同类型的动物授粉的植物往往具有使它们适应一种特定类型的特征。 这项拟议中的研究探讨了这种专门的适应如何在广义的“授粉环境”中产生，使用了几种原产于美国西南部的相关植物物种。 在自然种群和飞行笼中的实验将确定哪些传粉者（蜂鸟或大黄蜂）在选择花朵的特定特征方面是最重要的。（花的长度和宽度），以及花在多大程度上更好地适应了一种传粉者仍然可以利用另一种传粉者。通过探索花的适应是如何产生的，这项研究进一步加深了我们对不同植物物种进化的理解，从而产生生物多样性。 由于人类活动造成的物种灭绝所造成的“生物多样性危机”正在加速，这是保护生物学的核心问题。 保护生物学家必须了解如何防止灭绝，但同样必须了解允许新物种进化以取代灭绝物种的条件。 拟议中的植物-传粉系统模型实验将帮助我们了解开花植物物种的巨大多样性是如何进化的，从而如何促进新物种的持续进化和生物多样性的维护。