Collaborative Research: Phylogeography, Ecology and Reproductive Isolation in the Fundulus notatus Complex

生物学最大的挑战之一是解释物种多样性的水平和模式。杂交区，密切相关的物种共存和杂交，提供了一个理想的环境，在其中研究的过程中，产生和保持物种多样性。这项研究将结合联合收割机实地观察，控制实验室实验和现代分子工具，以解决有关的分布模式观察到的底notatus物种复杂的三个topminnow物种的基本问题。在整个美国中西部和南部，这些物种在许多杂交区相遇，使它们成为研究的理想群体。这项研究将全面阐述F. notatus物种组，并将增加我们对进化和生态过程在产生和维持我们今天观察到的物种多样性方面所起作用的理解。此外，这项研究具有重要的保护意义，并将感兴趣的各种国家机构。该研究计划将通过让本科生和研究生参与两所不同大学的研究企业来整合教学和研究。积极参与研究的人员将参加现有的推广计划，旨在招募代表性不足的群体进入科学领域，并提高大学预科学生的科学素养。

One of the greatest challenges in biology is to explain the levels and patterns of species diversity. Hybrid zones, where closely related species co-occur and hybridize, provide an ideal setting in which to study the processes that generate and maintain species diversity. This research will combine field observations, controlled laboratory experiments and modern molecular tools to address fundamental questions regarding the distributional patterns observed among three topminnow species in the Fundulus notatus species complex. Throughout the Midwestern and Southern United States, the species encounter one another in numerous hybrid zones, making them an ideal group for study. The proposed research will comprehensively address the evolutionary history of the F. notatus species group and will increase our understanding of the role evolutionary and ecological processes play in producing and maintaining the species diversity we observe today. Moreover, this research has important conservation implications and will be of interest to various state agencies. The research program will integrate teaching and research by involving undergraduate and graduate students in the research enterprise at the two diverse universities. Personnel active in the research will participate in existing outreach programs aimed at recruiting underrepresented groups into the sciences and improving science literacy in pre-collegiate students.