Unifying the Two-Generation Analysis to Pollen Movement: Analysis of Insect Mediated Pollen Dispersal in The Understory Tree Cornus florida L.

基因从一代到下一代的移动是维持种群遗传连接的关键过程。对于大多数植物物种来说，花粉是最常见的基因交换模式，通常通过风或昆虫或鸟类等传播媒介传播。随着经验数据的不断积累，昆虫介导的传播产生显着不同的空间分布模式的基因比物种，使用风作为其主要的传播机制。这个项目的重点是昆虫介导的传播的林下树木，山茱萸（开花山茱萸）。研究人员将使用数学模型和自然种群的遗传分析来了解昆虫介导的授粉的空间模式，并调查影响这一过程的生态因素。将对扩散模式敏感的数学模型与可以识别基因空间运动的遗传数据相结合，为这一最关键的过程提供了独特的见解。此外，将这些分析置于生态背景下，使我们能够了解环境如何影响昆虫的行为，这些昆虫在景观中移动植物基因。这个项目将有助于培养本科生和研究生在生物学和数学的接口。这项研究的一个重要成果将是一个软件包，使其他科学家能够分析和理解花粉运动的模式。这项研究的结果最终将使我们能够为自然种群设计更有效的管理和保护策略。

The movement of genes from one generation to the next is the critical process that maintains the genetic connectivity of populations. For most plant species, pollen is the most common mode of gene exchange and is typically transmitted by either wind or via a dispersal agent such as insects or birds. As empirical data on landscape-level gene movement continues to accumulate, it is becoming apparent that insect-mediated dispersal produces significantly different spatial distribution patterns of genes than species that use wind as their primary dispersal mechanism. This project is focused on insect-mediated dispersal of the understory tree, Cornus florida (flowering dogwood). The investigators will use both mathematical models and genetic analyses of natural populations to understand the spatial patterning of insect-mediated pollination and investigate the ecological factors that influence this process. Combining mathematical models that are sensitive to the mode of dispersal with genetic data that can identify the spatial movement of genes provides unique insights into this most critical process. Moreover, placing these analyses within an ecological context allows us to understand how the environment influences the behavior of insects that move plant genes across the landscape. This project will help to train undergraduate and graduate students at the interface of biology and mathematics. An important outcome of this research will be a software package to allow other scientists to analyse and understand patterns of pollen movement. The results of this research will ultimately allow us to design more effective management and conservation strategies for natural populations.