RUI: Measuring local adaptation to test the Geographic Mosaic of Coevolution Theory in a three trophic level interaction: a fly, a galler, and a parasitoid

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Coevolution, the reciprocal evolution of species, is hypothesized to be one of the major processes producing biological diversity. Interacting species in different geographic areas can coevolve with each other resulting in each species becoming locally adapted to variation in the other species. This will produce a geographic mosaic of genetically differentiated populations of each species. Local adaptation of organisms has frequently been documented, but the contribution of coevolution to local adaptation has been difficult to quantify. The PIs will measure the role of coevolution in producing local adaptation among a plant, a specialized herbivorous insect, and a wasp that parasitizes that insect. Studying this tightly interacting group of species will be the first step towards understanding coevolution at the level of the ecological community. Each of these species shows evidence of local adaptation, but the role of coevolution in producing this adaptation has not been determined. To measure coevolution the PIs will reciprocally transplant populations of each species among three sites with different environments to create all possible combinations of the local populations of the three species. By measuring the survival and reproduction of each species they will quantify the relative contribution of coevolution and other environmental factors to local adaptation. The results will have implications for agriculture, forestry, and conservation efforts because movement of populations to new locations is common in all these disciplines. The research will provide training for a large number of undergraduates in ecological research techniques.