OPUS: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology of Desert Drosophila

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For a century, laboratory studies of Drosophila fruit flies have been crucial to discovering basic principles of heredity. In contrast, little has been known of what fruit flies experience in nature; the proposed work will rectify that problem in the case of cactus-feeding flies. Some fruit fly species are adapted to living in very harsh desert environments where they exploit decaying cacti as feeding and breeding sites. The investigator has studied the ecology, genetics and behavior of four such Drosophila species for over 30 years. Her synthesis of this work will result in a book that will provide the first overview of the biology and genetics of these insects relative to many features of their ecology. The synthesis is expected to point the way for future research directions not only with desert-adapted Drosophila, but also other organisms. In addition, an on-line database of resource availability and fly population dynamics will be developed and made available in English and Spanish. The database will provide a resource to a range of ecologists, evolutionary biologists and educators. The organisms at the center of this synthesis live in deserts in the United States and Mexico. The synthesis and the bilingual website will not only allow investigators and students from both countries to access the long-term data on these flies and their resources, but will lead to additional international collaborative studies. In addition, the investigator has worked in remote areas and her experiences, which will be incorporated in the synthesis, will serve to encourage other female investigators to pursue similar studies.