Dissertation Research: A subalpine forb's response to long-term experimental warming

当气候变化超过容忍极限时，动植物种群有三种可能的一般反应——它们可以通过可塑性或遗传变化来适应当地不断变化的环境；迁移到更合适的栖息地；或者灭绝。本研究探讨了进化适应和迁徙在防止一种短暂的亚高山野花在实验变暖的山地草甸（“变暖草甸”）中灭绝的潜在作用。一系列的移植实验将1)测试对温暖小气候的适应，2)分析这种适应的可塑性和遗传成分，3)测试移民种子是否“预先适应”了更温暖、更干燥、低海拔的条件，是否有可能挽救正在下降的暖草地野花种群。了解人口水平对全球气候变化的反应是保护、农业和公共卫生科学家和决策者关注的中心问题。本研究采用一种新颖的方法，结合普通园林、互惠移植和分子分析来研究气候变暖对进化适应和迁移的影响。因此，这项研究的智力和科学价值在于它使用了一个独特的、长期的实验来解决具有全球重要性的问题。研究人员将向广大公众（包括具有不同文化、经济和政治背景的成年人）传达研究成果和他们对科学探究的热情；加州和科罗拉多州的小学生和本科生。

When climatic change surpasses tolerance limits, plant and animal populations have three possible general responses - they can adapt, either via plasticity or genetic change, to their local changing environment; migrate to more suitable habitats; or go extinct. This research investigates the potential roles of evolutionary adaptation and migration in preventing the extinction of a short-lived, subalpine wildflower in an experimentally warmed mountain meadow (the 'Warming Meadow'). A series of transplant experiments will 1) test for adaptation to warmed microclimates, 2) tease apart the plastic and genetic components of this adaptation, and 3) test whether immigrant seeds 'pre-adapted' to warmer, drier, low-elevation conditions can potentially rescue the declining Warming Meadow wildflower population. Understanding population-level responses to global climate change is of central concern to conservation, agricultural, and public health scientists and policy-makers. This research uses a novel combination of common gardens, reciprocal transplants, and molecular analyses to investigate evolutionary adaptation and migration in response to climate warming. Thus, the intellectual and scientific merits of this study lie in its use of a unique, long-term experiment to address issues of global importance. The investigators will communicate research findings and their enthusiasm for scientific inquiry to a broad public audience, including adults of diverse cultural, economic, and political backgrounds; grade-school students, and undergraduates in both California and Colorado.