Life History Trait Plasticity and Adaptations to Stochastic Environmental Divergences: High Arctic Charr

该项目代表了一项跨学科的研究，以检验以下假设：随机气候和栖息地变化在北极高淡水系统中北极沙鼠(Salvelinus Alpinus)生活史特征、适应机制和种群组成的发展中起决定性作用。这项研究将地球物理观测与生态、回顾和遗传学研究相结合。北极圈碳是研究环境因素如何影响鱼类生活史、种群结构和多样性的理想选择。查尔种群表现出巨大的生态可塑性和对恶劣环境的适应能力。北极炭是北极高海拔地区唯一的淡水鱼，与其他地方一样，它有广泛的生活史策略，包括滨水区、居民和内陆种群。在具有迁徙碳的湖泊系统中，种群可能由PARR、后迁徙和成年迁徙个体以及转变为岸滩的小型、大型和大型迁徙个体组成。确定环境对表型、基因型和生活史的影响取决于关于环境条件、发育速度、遗传信息、迁徙速度和极端条件下的死亡率的详细信息。在这项研究中，将对来自格陵兰岛图勒、迪斯科、努克和朱利亚内哈布以及加拿大埃尔斯米尔岛地区的湖泊系统的碳鱼种群进行比较。所有系统中的CHARR都会经历高度随机的环境。虽然与迁徙相关的适应、遗传和行为机制对于低纬度的鲑鱼来说是众所周知的，但关于高纬度环境中顺水相碳的这种机制的知识仍然是零散的。一般来说，与季节性事件相关的机制必须是预先适应的。这种预适应机制如何与北极高地系统中允许碳迁移的不可预测的物理条件相适应并受到其影响，将是这一项目的主要主题。

This project represents an interdisciplinary study to test the hypothesis that stochastic climate and habitat variation play a decisive role in the development of life history traits, adaptation mechanisms and population composition in Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) in high Arctic freshwater systems. The study combines geophysical observations with ecological, retrospective and genetic studies. The circumpolar Arctic charr is ideal for the study of how environmental factors affect life history, population structure and diversity in fishes. Charr populations demonstrate a tremendous ecological plasticity and adaptations to harsh environments. Arctic charr is the only freshwater fish in the high Arctic and, as elsewhere, has a broad range of life-history strategies including anadromous, resident and landlocked populations. In lake systems with migrating charr, the population may consist of a mixture of parr, postsmolt and adult migratory individuals, as well as small-sized resident, large-sized resident and large formerly resident individuals transformed to anadromy. Determination of the effect of the environment upon phenotype, genotype and life history relies upon detailed information about environmental conditions, developmental rates, genetic information, migration rates and mortality in extreme conditions. In this study charr populations from lake systems from the Thule, Disko, Nuuk and Julianehaab, Greenland and Ellesmere Island, Canada areas will be compared. Charr in all systems experience highly stochastic environments. Whereas adaptive, genetic and behavioral mechanisms associated with migration are well known for salmonid fish at lower latitudes, knowledge about such mechanisms in anadromous charr inhabiting high latitude environments are still fragmentary. In general, mechanisms associated with seasonal events must be pre-adaptive. How such pre-adaptive mechanisms are timed with, and influenced by, the unpredictable physical conditions allowing for charr migration in high Arctic systems will be the main topic of this propject.