LTREB: Sources of Variation in Lifetime Fitness of Harvester Ants

个体在生存、生长和繁殖方面存在差异，但造成这些差异的原因尚不清楚。先前的研究表明，个人的内在素质、他们成长的环境质量、他们居住的环境质量或社会环境的质量都可能影响个人的成功。没有一项研究考察过所有这些因素在单一物种中的相对重要性。本研究的中心目的是通过同时操纵所有这些因素来阐明自然界中个体表现差异的原因。个体的分子遗传特征将与大规模的野外实验相结合，以测试这些因素在蚂蚁模型系统Pogonomyrmex occidentalis中的大小。这些实验的结果将与一项正在进行的为期二十年的该物种种群生物学研究相结合，以提供对个体成功决定因素的综合衡量。这项工作将有助于生物基础设施的发展和学生培训。该项目将涉及来自科学研究中代表性不足群体的本科生，并将提供指导，鼓励他们在毕业后继续从事科学、技术和工程职业。这项研究的数据将通过Dryad （datadryad.org）和生物复杂性知识网络（knb.ecoinformatics.org）提供。

Individuals differ in how well they survive, grow and reproduce, but the reasons for these differences are not well understood. Previous work has shown that either the intrinsic quality of the individual, the quality of the environment in which they were raised, the quality of the environment that they inhabit, or the social environment, may affect an individual's success. No study has examined the relative importance of all these factors within a single species. The central aim of this study is to elucidate the reason for differences in the performance of individuals in nature by manipulating all of these factors simultaneously. Molecular genetic characterization of individuals will be combined with large scale field experiments to test the magnitude of these factors in the ant model system, Pogonomyrmex occidentalis. The results of these experiments will be combined with an ongoing twenty-year study of the population biology of this species to provide a comprehensive measure of the determinants of individual success. This work will contribute to the development of biological infrastructure and to student training. The project will involve undergraduate students from underrepresented groups in scientific research and will provide mentoring to encourage their continuation in science, technology and engineering careers post graduation. The data from this study will be made available through Dryad (datadryad.org) and the Knowledge Network for Biocomplexity (knb.ecoinformatics.org).