Dissertation Research: Feedback between ecological interactions and evolutionary processes in a trophic cascade

论文研究：营养级联中生态相互作用和进化过程之间的反馈

• 批准号: 0808453
• 负责人: Sharon Strauss
• 金额: $ 1.08万
• 依托单位: University of California-Davis
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2008
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2008-06-01 至 2010-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0808453&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Dissertation; Research; Feedback; between; ecological

Trophic cascades, ecological interactions in which predators suppress herbivores and so indirectly benefit plants, are among the most widely studied multi-species interactions. This research will examine how trophic cascades affect natural selection and evolution of the common monkey flower plant (Mimulus guttatus). The presence of both arthropod herbivores and predatory spiders will be manipulated in the field and responses of several genetically-variable plant traits will be measured to assess changes in selection pressures associated with those treatments. Changes in plant traits also have the potential to influence the strength of trophic cascades. The importance of this feedback mechanism will be measured directly, by growing offspring of plants from each treatment in every treatment the following season, and indirectly, by using artificial selection to manipulate plant traits and then placing selected lines into each treatment. Understanding complex multi-species interactions in ecological communities remains a key challenge for ecology. The intellectual merit of this research is that it will add to our understanding of the interplay between genetic variation, natural selection, and multi-species interactions in complex ecological communities. The broader impacts of the research include student training, and that it will generate important insights for managing both species diversity and genetic diversity in natural and agricultural systems. Understanding potential feedbacks between the variable interactions among different species and the genetic variation present within species will also help in predicting how ecological communities will change as species diversity and genetic diversity are altered by humans.

营养性级联反应是捕食者抑制食草动物的生态相互作用，因此间接使植物受益，是研究最广泛的多种物种相互作用之一。这项研究将研究营养级联反应如何影响普通猴花植物（Mimulus guttatus）的自然选择和演变。将在现场操纵节肢动物草食动物和掠食性蜘蛛的存在，并将测量几种遗传变化的植物特征的反应，以评估与这些治疗相关的选择压力的变化。植物特征的变化也有可能影响营养级联反应的强度。这种反馈机制的重要性将直接通过在接下来的季节中从每种治疗中的每种处理中的植物的后代生长，并间接地通过使用人工选择来操纵植物特征，然后将选定的线条放入每种治疗中。了解生态社区中复杂的多物种相互作用仍然是生态学的关键挑战。这项研究的智力优点在于，它将增加我们对复杂生态群落中遗传变异，自然选择和多种物种相互作用之间相互作用的理解。这项研究的更广泛影响包括学生培训，并将为管理自然和农业系统中的物种多样性和遗传多样性而产生重要的见解。了解不同物种之间的可变相互作用与物种中存在的遗传变异之间的潜在反馈也将有助于预测生态群落将如何随着物种多样性和遗传多样性的改变而改变。