Collaborative Research: Species delimitation, speciation, and evolution of the niche in slimy salamanders (Plethodontidae: Plethodon)

这项研究将检查DNA序列变异的地理模式，以划分北美东部一个广泛分布的蝾螈群（Plethodon glutinosus群）的物种。这些蝾螈通常是森林栖息地中数量最多的脊椎动物，在生态系统功能中起着关键作用。然而，由于它们在外观和生态上的总体相似性，确定类群中的物种数量一直是个问题。研究人员将利用遗传、生理和小气候数据的新组合来发现物种，并探索生态位的停滞和分化在物种谱系的起源和维持中所起的作用。了解生态位在产生和维持物种边界方面所起的作用，将有助于我们了解物种如何应对气候的快速变化。在美国东南部快速发展的地区，解决粘齿平齿（Plethodon glutinosus）种群分类的不确定性将具有直接的保护意义。此外，拟议的研究将为一名博士后、两名研究生和几名本科生提供进化、生态学和保护生物学方面的培训。

This research will examine geographic patterns of variation in DNA sequences to delimit species in a widespread group of eastern North American salamanders (the Plethodon glutinosus group). These salamanders are often the most abundant vertebrates in forested habitats and play a key role in ecosystem functioning. However, due to their overall similarity in appearance and ecology, identifying the number of species in the group has been problematic. The investigators will use a novel combination of genetic, physiological, and microclimatic data to discover species, and to explore the roles that stasis and divergence in the ecological niche play in the origin and maintenance of species lineages.Understanding the role that the ecological niche plays in generating and maintaining species boundaries will advance our knowledge of how species will respond to rapid changes in climate. Resolving uncertainty surrounding the species-level taxonomy of the Plethodon glutinosus group will have immediate conservation implications in rapidly developing regions of the southeastern United States. In addition, the proposed research will provide training in evolution, ecology, and conservation biology for a postdoctoral student, two graduate students, and several undergraduate researchers.