CAREER: Isolation by Distance or Adaptation: The Extent of Population Genetic Distance that Results from Adaptive Divergence in Intraspecific Signals and Migratory Behavior

关于新物种形成的经典争论集中在地理隔离和适应不同环境的相对重要性上。基因组学中的新工具允许更仔细地研究这些特征如何影响种群分化。通过分析种群间基因组变异的模式如何受到当地生态、行为和地理隔离程度的影响，可以获得关于生物多样性如何形成的重要见解。家燕在世界范围内由六个密切相关的亚种组成，其中种群在以下方面存在差异：（1）彼此的地理距离，（2）择偶特征的不同组合，（3）它们遇到的气候，以及（4）它们的迁徙行为范围，因此为探索这些因素在种群分化中的相对重要性提供了强有力的机会。在家燕的整个繁殖分布中建立了55个采样点，以进行近1,500对基因组和表型分歧的群体比较。这项调查将是对迁徙行为、气候变化、配偶选择和地理距离对种群基因组差异的相对重要性的最全面的分析之一，并对这些因素如何影响新物种的进化有重要的见解。 在这里，科学目标可以通过将研究与国际合作，生物学综合培训和推广相结合来实现。两名科学教育研究员将用于帮助实施和评估PI教授的两门课程的创新。公众参与这项研究将通过新设立的公民科学计划和鸟类多样性展览来实现。

Classic debates on the formation of new species center on the relative significance of geographic isolation and adaption to different environments. New tools in genomics allow a closer look into how these features influence population differentiation. By analyzing how patterns of genomic variation among populations are affected by local ecology, behavior and extent of geographic isolation, important insights about how biodiversity forms can be achieved. Barn swallows are comprised of six closely related sub-species worldwide, where populations vary in: (1) geographic distance from one another, (2) different combinations of mate-selection traits, (3) climates they encounter, and (4) their extent of migratory behaviors, and thus provide powerful opportunities to explore the relative significance of these factors in population divergence. Fifty-five sampling sites across the entire breeding distribution of barn swallows have been established to conduct nearly 1,500 pair-wise population comparisons of genomic and phenotypic divergence. This investigation will be among the most comprehensive analyses of the relative significance of migratory behavior, climate variability, mate selection, and geographic distance on population genomic divergence, with important insights about how these factors affect the evolution of new species. Here, the scientific goals can be achieved through intermeshing the research with international collaboration, integrative training in Biology and outreach. Two Science Education Fellows will be used to help implement and assess innovation to two courses taught by the PI. Public engagement in this research will be achieved via a newly established Citizen Science program and an exhibition on avian diversity.