DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Does phenotypic integration reflect local adaptation in Bahamas mosquitofish?

生物学家长期以来一直试图理解生物体复杂性的进化。个体由许多影响生存和繁殖的不同特征组成；这些特征通常彼此相关，这是一个被称为表型整合的概念。这些性状的相关性在多大程度上也影响了整个生物体的适应性，它们是否会影响进化变化的方向，以及它们在野外是如何进化的，人们仍然知之甚少。这些问题将在居住在巴哈马安德罗斯岛内陆蓝洞的巴哈马食蚊鱼（Gambusia hubbsi）中进行调查。这些种群在存在或不存在掠食性鱼类的情况下被隔离了数千年。具体来说，这项工作旨在了解活鱼种群是否独立且反复地进化出类似的性状相关网络，作为对类似自然选择的回应，或者性状关联是否相对不变并限制进化变化。了解生物复杂性（如相关性状网络）是如何产生和维持的，是进化生物学的中心目标；这项工作将阐明推动或阻止生物多样性进化的条件。与这项研究相关的公共宣传包括(1)为安德罗斯岛的中学生和高中生提供关于进化的互动课程，让学生参与研究数据的收集；(2)展示进行进化研究的过程和启发它的想法的艺术展览；(3)为不同的本科生提供研究体验。此外，为这项工作收集的数据将在网上免费提供，用于研究和教育目的。

Biologists have long sought to understand the evolution of complexity in organisms. Individuals are comprised of many diverse traits that can affect survival and reproduction; these traits are often correlated with one another, a concept known as phenotypic integration. The extent to which these trait correlations also affect whole-organism fitness, whether they bias the direction of evolutionary change, and how they evolve in the wild remain poorly understood. These questions will be investigated in the Bahamas mosquitofish (Gambusia hubbsi) inhabiting inland blue holes across Andros Island, The Bahamas. These populations have been isolated in the presence or absence of predatory fish for thousands of years. Specifically, this work seeks to understand whether livebearing fish populations have independently and repeatedly evolved similar trait correlation networks as a response to similar natural selection, or whether trait associations are relatively immutable and constrain evolutionary change. Understanding how biological complexity, such as correlated trait networks, is generated and maintained represents a central goal of evolutionary biology; this work will shed light on the conditions propelling or prohibiting evolution of organismal diversity. Public outreach associated with this research includes (1) interactive lessons on evolution for middle and high school students on Andros Island involving students with research data collection, (2) an art exhibit showcasing the process of conducting evolutionary research and the ideas inspiring it, and (3) research experience for diverse undergraduate students. Further, data collected for this work will be freely available online for research and educational purposes.