EAGER: Developing methods for evolutionary studies in a long-term ecological experiment

有证据表明，随着环境条件的改变，进化变化可以迅速发生，这就要求将进化过程视为短期生态变化的原因。该项目将开发研究遗传变异和适应在植物群落对养分供应变化和干扰的反应中的作用所需的方法。该项目是基于长期的生态野外操纵；由于养分供应和刈割频率的变化导致群落中单个物种丰度的变化，因此存在影响适合度性状的选择潜力。通过开发测量基因变化的方法，研究人员将扩大目前的实验，以解决两个主要的生态问题。首先，短期的生态变化会推动快速的进化反应吗？第二，物种内部和物种之间的遗传变异在决定群落多样性、组成和对环境变化的反应方面起什么作用？拟议的研究既具有探索性又具有风险。本科生将在没有研究实验室的情况下开发分子标记，而这些工作是常规的。在个体之间的基因流动中，生态条件变化所导致的强选择是否会导致遗传分化，目前尚不清楚，因此，该提议所基于的关键问题之一是有风险的。最后，遗传变异在多大程度上影响生态过程，特别是群落聚集和多样性的维持，是相当未知的，这给拟议的研究增加了额外的风险。该项目扩展了一项长期生态实验，该实验旨在加强东卡罗莱纳大学本科生的生态教育，并为学生提供在现实时空尺度上进行的生态研究的真实体验。该实验是ECU生物学课程的统一主题，目前提供生态学，野外方法，植物学，实验设计和统计学方面的培训。扩大这一实验的提议将为本科生的研究和额外的课程开发创造新的机会。学生将进行所有拟议的研究，以开发遗传标记和植物栽培方法。一个新的项目将扩展课程，包括一个本科生群体遗传学实验室，使用长期实验作为研究框架。所开发的方法将有助于未来的研究，超越长期的地块，以解决自然种群的进化生态学问题。

Evidence that evolutionary change can occur rapidly in response to altered environmental conditions requires that evolutionary processes be considered as causes for even short-term ecological change. This project will develop the methods needed to examine the roles of genetic variation and adaptation in plant community responses to changes in nutrient supply and disturbance. The project is based on a long-term ecological field manipulation; as changes in nutrient supply and the frequency of mowing cause changes in the abundance of individual species in the community, the potential exists for selection on traits affecting fitness. By developing methods to measure genetic change, the researchers will expand the current experiment to address two major ecological questions. First, do short-term ecological changes drive rapid evolutionary responses? Second, what role does genetic variation within and among species play in determining community diversity, composition, and responses to environmental change? The proposed research is both exploratory and risky. Undergraduate students will develop molecular markers without the benefits of a research laboratory where such work is routine. It remains unclear whether even strong selection caused by changing ecological conditions can result in genetic divergence in the face of gene flow among individuals and thus, one of the key questions upon which the proposal is based is risky. Finally, the extent to which genetic variation influences ecological processes, and particularly community assembly and the maintenance of diversity, is quite unknown, adding an additional risk to the proposed study.The project extends a long-term ecological experiment that was initiated to enhance ecology education for undergraduates at Eastern Carolina University and to provide students with authentic experiences in ecological research conducted at realistic spatial and temporal scales. The experiment serves as a unifying theme in the ECU biology curriculum, currently providing training in ecology, field methods, botany, experimental design and statistics. The proposed expansion of this experiment will generate new opportunities for undergraduate research and additional curriculum development. Students will carry out all of the proposed research to develop genetic markers and plant cultivation methods. A new project will expand the curriculum to include an undergraduate population genetics laboratory, using the long-term experiment as a research framework. The methods developed will contribute to future studies that extend beyond the long-term plots to address questions in evolutionary ecology in natural populations.