IRFP: Eco-Evolutionary Dynamics of Allee Effects and their Mitigating Adaptations

国际研究奖学金项目使美国科学家和工程师能够在国外进行9至24个月的研究。该计划的奖励为联合研究提供了机会，并利用独特或互补的设施、专业知识和国外的实验条件。该奖项将支持Allison K. Shaw博士与澳大利亚国立大学（堪培拉，澳大利亚）的Hanna Kokko博士以及伍兹霍尔海洋研究所（马萨诸塞州）的Michael Neubert博士共同开展为期24个月的研究。Allee效应描述了个体的适合度与其同类数量之间的正相关关系，最常见的例子是个体在较高的种群密度下找到配偶的机会增加。由于Allee效应会对个体在低密度环境下的适应性产生负面影响，因此我们很容易预测，任何允许个体克服Allee效应的适应都应该是被选择的。然而，如果在一个物种的进化史上低密度的时期是罕见的，情况可能就不是这样了。此外，某些类型的适应（包括分散）实际上可能会加剧被人为降低到低密度的种群中的Allee效应。在我们能够预测低密度种群的动态之前，我们需要对Allee效应及其缓解适应如何相互作用有一个坚实的了解。本研究的两个主要目标是：1)在生态进化背景下建立一个整合Allee效应和反适应的理论框架；2)将研究结果应用于预测入侵物种的具体动态。本研究将有助于我们对低密度种群动态的理解，并在有害生物入侵控制、渔业管理和濒危物种保护等方面具有潜在的应用价值。这项研究还将促进PI与澳大利亚国立大学、澳大利亚其他机构和伍兹霍尔海洋研究所的研究小组之间的宝贵国际合作。

The International Research Fellowship Program enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct nine to twenty-four months of research abroad. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions abroad. This award will support a twenty-four-month research fellowship by Dr. Allison K. Shaw to work with Dr. Hanna Kokko at the Australian National University (Canberra, Australia) and with Dr. Michael Neubert at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (Massachusetts). An Allee effect describes a positive relationship between an individual's fitness and the number of its conspecifics, the most common example being an individual's increased chance of finding mates at higher population density. It may be tempting to predict that any adaptation that allows an individual to overcome an Allee effect should have been selected for, since Allee effects negatively impact an individual's fitness at low density. However, this may not be the case if periods of low density were rare during a species' evolutionary history. Furthermore, some types of adaptations (including dispersal) may actually exacerbate Allee effects in a population that has been artificially reduced to a low density. Before we can predict the dynamics of low-density populations, we need to develop a solid understanding of how Allee effects and their mitigating adaptations interact. The two broad objectives of this research are 1) to build a theoretical framework integrating Allee effects and counter adaptations in an eco-evolutionary context, and 2) to apply the findings to predict dynamics in the specific example of invasive species.The proposed research will contribute fundamentally to our understanding of the dynamics governing populations at low density, which has potential applications in the control of invasive pest species, management of fisheries, and protection of endangered species. This research will also foster valuable international collaboration between the PI and research groups at the Australian National University, other institutions within Australia, and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.