Collaborative Research: RUI: Ecological and evolutionary responses to environmental change in Sierra Nevada populations of a montane willow beetle

自然界中的有机体生活在可能保持稳定、增长、大小波动或灭绝的种群中。自然环境、天敌的存在、种群的遗传特性以及个体适应环境的能力都会影响种群的规模和持久性。随着生态系统经历快速的气候变化，必须了解环境和遗传变异如何影响脆弱群体的持久性。为了关注这一关键问题，将对加州内华达山脉经历极端气候条件的本土柳树甲虫的种群进行调查。研究了十多年的种群将使用遗传变异和环境适应的标记来表征。种群数量的变化将与这些标记、当地地形和通过连续记录天气记录器评估的气候条件有关。来自这些种群的历史样本，其中一些现在已经灭绝，将被包括在这一分析中，为分析过去环境所特有的种群的变化提供了难得的机会。量化繁殖、幼虫存活和成虫越冬存活的实验将评估不同遗传和环境背景的甲虫种群持续存在的潜在机制。这些发现将为生物应对和适应快速变化的环境的能力提供独特的见解，并将加强对遗传和环境变化对物种之间生态相互作用的影响的理解。该项目延续了一个独特的、长期的人口和气候数据集，因此将对了解全球气候变化对自然系统的影响作出实质性贡献。最后，该计划将支持和指导大量本科生，包括在环境生物学领域传统上代表性较低的群体，作为一个协作的跨学科团队在实验室和现场工作。

Organisms in nature live in populations that may remain stable, grow, fluctuate in size, or go extinct. The physical environment, the presence of natural enemies, the genetic properties of a population and the abilities of individuals to adapt to the environment all influence population size and persistence. As ecosystems experience rapid climate change, it is imperative to understand how environmental and genetic variation affects the persistence of vulnerable populations. To focus on this critical problem, populations of a native willow beetle experiencing extreme climatic conditions in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California will be investigated. Populations studied for over a decade will be characterized using markers of genetic variation and environmental adaptation. Changes in population size will be related to these markers, to local topography, and to climatic conditions assessed by continuously recording weather loggers. Historical samples from these populations, some of which are now extinct, will be included in this analysis, offering a rare opportunity to analyze changes in populations for which the past environment is characterized. Experiments quantifying reproduction, larval survival, and adult over-wintering survival will assess potential mechanisms contributing to population persistence for beetles of differing genetic and environmental backgrounds.Findings will provide unique insights into the ability of organisms to cope with and adapt to a rapidly changing environment, and will enhance understanding of the effects of genetic and environmental variation on ecological interactions among species. This project continues a unique, long-term population and climate dataset, and will thus provide a substantive contribution to knowledge of the effects of global climate change on natural systems. Finally, this program will support and mentor a large number of undergraduates, including groups traditionally underrepresented in environmental biology, working in the laboratory and field as a collaborative, interdisciplinary team.