DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Spatial Analysis of Effective Size and Genetic Structure in Desert Breeding Anurans

维持遗传多样性对种群分化、持久性、局部适应和分化具有重要影响。生物生态学、行为学和人口学通过增加随机进化过程相对于非随机进化过程的作用，影响局部尺度上遗传多样性的时间变化，并可能对更大尺度上的遗传结构模式产生重要影响。该项目将生态学和种群遗传学结合起来，以评估特定物种特有特征在保存遗传多样性方面的重要性。为了弄清遗传多样性在多个空间尺度上分布的形成机制，本研究使用分子种群遗传学工具比较了两种生态相似但生活史截然不同的沙漠养殖蟾蜍的遗传结构。这项研究将超越这一特定系统的范围，为保护生物学和课堂外的教育做出贡献。种群的长期持久性依赖于遗传多样性来适应不断变化的环境。通过研究物种特征如何影响遗传多样性的维持和分布，我们可以更好地预测特定环境变化和扰动对种群稳定性和持久性的影响。这项研究的实地和实验室部分将涉及来自不同背景的所有年龄和国籍的学生和社区成员。

The maintenance of genetic diversity has important consequences for population differentiation, persistence, local adaptation, and divergence. Organismal ecology, behavior, and demography influence temporal changes in genetic diversity at local scales and can have important consequences for patterns of genetic structure at larger scales by increasing the role of random evolutionary processes relative to non-random evolutionary processes. This project integrates ecology and population genetics to assess the importance of particular species-specific traits in the preservation of genetic diversity. To disentangle the mechanisms shaping distributions of genetic diversity at multiple spatial scales, this research uses molecular population genetic tools to compare genetic structure in two desert breeding toads with similar ecologies, but very different life-histories. This research will reach beyond the scope of this specific system by contributing to conservation biology as well as education outside of the classroom. The long-term persistence of populations relies on genetic diversity for adaptability to changing environments. By examining how species traits affect the maintenance and distribution of genetic diversity we can better predict the consequence of particular environmental changes and perturbations on population stability and persistence. The field and laboratory components of this research will involve students and community members of all ages and nationalities from a diverse array of backgrounds.