Dissertation Research: Coadaptation of a Nursery Pollinator and its Dioecious Host Plant

这项研究将调查哈德纳属的飞蛾与开花植物物种宽叶飞蛾的两个不同种群之间的相互作用，宽叶飞蛾是一种成熟的研究物种，也已在美国被归化。宽叶木兰种群在花、营养和生活史特征上差异很大，这可能是对不同环境的适应。飞蛾是幼虫的传粉者：成虫授粉，但幼虫寄生果实。包括蛾的喜好、幼虫的表现和水果损害在内的相互作用将在自然的欧洲栖息地进行考察。这项研究将表明，在不同的环境中，互惠和寄生之间的平衡是否会因这些苗圃传粉者和寄主植物物种的不同而不同。这是一个跨学科的研究项目，结合生态学、进化论和行为学来调查自然种群之间复杂的生物相互作用的分歧。该项目将为年轻的研究生和本科生研究人员提供传粉者生物学和生态/进化领域技术方面的广泛培训。这些结果还将为植物-传粉者相互作用中的区域差异提供经验证据。此外，这项工作将建议保护工作是否应该在管理其他传粉者物种时考虑栖息地特定的差异。

This study will investigate interactions between moths from the genus Hadena (the lychnis moth) and two divergent populations of the flowering plant species Silene latifolia (the white campion), an established research species that is also naturalized in the US. The S. latifolia populations vary extensively in floral, vegetative, and life-history traits, which are likely adaptations to dissimilar environments. The moths are nursery pollinators: adult moths pollinate, but the larvae parasitize fruit. Interactions including moth preferences, larval performance, and fruit damage will be examined in the natural European habitat. This research will suggest whether the balance between mutualism and parasitism varies among distinct environments with these nursery-pollinator and host-plant species. This is an interdisciplinary research project that combines ecology, evolution, and behavior to investigate the divergence of intricate biological interactions between natural populations. This project will offer extensive training in pollinator biology and ecological/evolutionary field techniques for young graduate and undergraduate researchers. These results will also provide empirical evidence of regional variation in plant-pollinator interactions. Additionally, this work will suggest whether conservation efforts should consider habitat-specific differences in the management of other pollinator species.