Thermal Adaptation in Animals in the Temperate Zone - A Response to Rapid Climate Warming in Nature?

温带动物的热适应——自然界对气候快速变暖的反应？

• 批准号: 0917827
• 负责人: William Bradshaw
• 金额: $ 58.46万
• 依托单位: University of Oregon Eugene
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-08-01 至 2013-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0917827&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Thermal; Adaptation; Animals; Temperate; Zone

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).The rate at which populations adapt to environmental change, and particularly to the rapid changes in temperature predicted from global warming, is a critical question across the environmental sciences. The investigator's previous research suggests that the primary evolutionary response to climate warming in the temperate zone involves seasonal or photoperiodic adaptations; thermal adaptation appears to be secondary and to require a much longer time (thousands of years) to develop. In this project, the researcher proposes a clever and robust test of the ability of the pitcher-plant mosquito to adapt to recent, rapid temperature changes on a decadal time frame. Mosquito populations were first tested in 1999 for their responses to experimentally controlled thermal environments. The PI will now re-sample these same populations and rear them under the same experimental conditions to determine whether mosquitoes have responded adaptively to temperature increases experienced over the past decade.Results from this research will reveal basic mechanisms that enable some organisms to adapt to climate change while others cannot. Organisms may first adapt to climate change by shifting their seasonal activity in response to photoperiod. The inability of an organism to adapt to rapid thermal changes could quickly limit the resilience that photoperiod adjustment alone permits. Undergraduate students will participate actively in this research. In addition, the project will continue to serve as a 'poster child' for the consequences of rapid environmental change. Results to date have been highlighted in over 30 national and international interviews, in popular magazine articles, on TV and radio broadcases, and in public lectures.

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案(公法111-5)资助的。人口对环境变化的适应速度，特别是对全球变暖预测的气温快速变化的适应速度，是整个环境科学的一个关键问题。这位研究人员之前的研究表明，温带地区对气候变暖的主要进化反应涉及季节性或光周期适应；热适应似乎是次要的，需要更长的时间(数千年)才能形成。在这个项目中，研究人员提出了一种聪明而强大的测试，以测试猪笼草蚊子适应十年时间框架内最近快速温度变化的能力。蚊子种群第一次测试是在1999年，测试它们对实验控制的热环境的反应。PI现在将重新采样这些相同的种群，并在相同的实验条件下饲养它们，以确定蚊子是否对过去十年经历的气温上升做出了适应性反应。这项研究的结果将揭示一些生物能够适应气候变化的基本机制，而另一些生物则不能。生物体可能首先通过改变它们的季节性活动来适应气候变化，以响应光周期。生物体无法适应快速的温度变化，可能会迅速限制光周期调节所允许的弹性。本科生将积极参与这项研究。此外，该项目还将继续成为环境快速变化后果的典范。迄今为止，在30多次国内和国际采访、流行杂志文章、电视和电台广播以及公开讲座中都强调了这一成果。