EVOLUTIONARY AND ECOLOGICAL FEEDBACKS: DO LOCALLY ADAPTED SALAMANDERS SHAPE FOOD WEB DYNAMICS ACROSS NATURAL LANDSCAPES?

大多数生态学研究都集中在确定环境变化如何塑造物种的丰度和分布。 然而，种群也可以适应当地生境的异质性。 这些适应反过来又可以改变物种之间的相互作用，从而形成群落动态。 该提案测试了蝾螈的本地适应觅食行为如何影响临时池塘中的食物网动态。在新英格兰南部，研究表明，斑点蝾螈幼虫（Ambystoma maculatum）的种群在觅食强度和猎物选择方面存在遗传差异，这取决于距离100米的当地捕食者的组成。 这种觅食强度的地理差异不仅会影响A。maculatum与捕食者的生存，以及它们与水生食物网中其他物种的相互作用。在这种背景下，研究人员将研究当地适应的特征是否以及如何影响当地的食物网生态。 具体而言，实验将测试觅食行为的遗传差异如何影响临时池塘食物网中生物的丰度和生长，通过操纵捕食者和野外实验中种群的遗传构成。 实验将进行分布在当地（1公里）和纬度（240公里）梯度的食肉动物密度的蝾螈。 在捕食者组成的纬度渐变中进行的实验将解决捕食者随着气候变化可能向北扩张如何改变北方食物网的问题，这项工作的更广泛影响将包括培训K-12教育工作者;少数民族暑期助理的参与;培训本科生和研究生以及博士后助理;以及加强生态学和进化方面的公共教育。 将为未来的K-12教师制定暑期实习计划，并指导暑期少数民族学生进行科学研究。 将设立三个本科研究职位，并培训一名研究生。 与康涅狄格州自然历史博物馆合作，将开发博物馆展览和公共宣传计划，将研究成果转化为公众互动学习单元

Most ecological research has focused on determining how environmental variation shapes species' abundances and distributions. However, populations also can adapt to local habitat heterogeneity. These adaptations, in turn, can alter species interactions and consequently shape community dynamics. This proposal tests how locally adapted foraging behaviors in salamanders affect food web dynamics in temporary ponds. In southern New England, research has demonstrated that populations of the spotted salamander larvae (Ambystoma maculatum) diverge genetically in their foraging intensities and prey choice depending on the composition of local predators across distances as little as 100 m. This geographic variation in foraging intensity should not only affect A. maculatum's survival with predators but also their interactions with other species in the aquatic food web. Given this background, researchers will examine if and how locally adapted traits influence local food web ecology. Specifically, experiments will test how genetic differences in foraging behavior affect the abundance and growth of organisms in temporary pond food webs by manipulating predators and the genetic constitution of populations in field experiments. Experiments will be conducted with salamanders distributed across local (1-km) and latitudinal (240-km) gradients in predator density. Experiments performed across a latitudinal cline in predator composition will address how the potential northward expansion of predators with climate change might alter northern food webs.The broader impacts of this work will include training for K-12 educators; involvement of minority summer assistants; training for undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral associates; and enhanced public education in ecology and evolution. A summer internship program will be developed for future K-12 teachers and to mentor summer minority students in scientific research. Three undergraduate research positions will be created and one additional graduate student will be trained. In conjunction with the Connecticut State Museum of Natural History, museum exhibits and public outreach programs will be developed that translate research results into interactive learning units for the public