DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Demographic consequences of sexually dimorphic responses to climate change

为了了解动植物的自然种群将如何应对气候变化，人们不仅需要调查气候对种群平均出生率和死亡率的影响，还需要调查种群中重要亚群（如男性和女性）之间的影响是否不同。 该项目的研究人员先前在科罗拉多落基山脉的工作表明，在广泛分布的植物中，雄性与雌性的比例会随着气候的变化而发生很大变化，可食用的缬草或美味缬草：温暖或干燥的条件有利于雄性。该项目将以这一发现为基础，调查气候对男性和女性的影响不同的机制。 该项目还将测试气候对男性和女性的不同影响如何影响整个人口的增长。 例如，如果女性变得非常罕见，出生率可能无法与死亡率相匹配，导致人口下降。研究结果将产生更好的工具，用于了解气候变化如何使自然种群失衡和减少生物多样性。首先，调查人员将让当地社区参与数据收集。志愿公民科学家将贡献数据，同时了解如何利用生态数据来应对当地和全球挑战。第二，收集的数据将被整合到一个面向本科生的互动和公开的在线学习模块中。第三，这项工作将拓宽博士生的研究训练，并为本科生提供研究经验。最后，这项工作提高了社会管理经济和生态重要物种的能力。

To understand how natural populations of plants and animals will respond to climate change, one needs to investigate, not just the effects of climate on the mean rates of birth and death in a population, but also whether effects differ between important subgroups within a population, such as males and females. Previous work in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado by the researchers on this project has revealed that the ratio of males to females changes greatly in response to climate in the widespread plant, edible valerian or Valeriana edulis: warmer or drier conditions favor males. This project will build on that discovery and investigate the mechanisms by which climate affects males differently from females. The project will also test how the differential effects of climate on males and females affect the growth of whole populations. For example, if females become very rare, birth rates may fail to match death rates, causing a population to decline. Results will yield improved tools for understanding how climate change may imbalance natural populations and diminish biodiversity.The proposed work will have four main broader impacts. First, the investigators will engage the local community in data collection. Volunteer citizen scientists will contribute data while gaining an appreciation for how ecological data can be used to address local and global challenges. Second, the data collected will be integrated into an interactive and publicly available online learning module aimed at undergraduate students. Third, this work will broaden the research training of a doctoral student and provide a research experience for undergraduates. Finally, the work increase societal capacity to manage economically and ecologically important species.