Collaborative Research: Adaptation Across Latitude and Altitude: Genomics, Morphology, and Physiology of Montane Bumble Bees

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Understanding the ways in which species cope with environmental variability is of fundamental importance in evolutionary biology and has implications for predicting organismal responses to global change. Adaptation to environmental variation can be inferred by examining physiological and genetic variation across a broad range of environments, but spatial, physical, or environmental barriers to dispersal also influence the distribution of such characteristics. Species that occur across latitude and elevation gradients present unique advantages for teasing apart how different evolutionary forces interact with environmental variation to shape morphological, physiological, and genetic diversity. This project will investigate physiological and genomic responses to environmental variation in montane bumblebees. In light of evidence for pollinator declines and widespread expectations for future environmental changes, results will simultaneously address questions about evolutionary adaptation, and yield advancements to predict impacts of climate and migration barriers on a key pollinator group. This project will combine measurements of physiology and morphology with next-generation genomic DNA sequencing in wild and laboratory reared populations sampled across California, Oregon, and Washington to produce several lines of evidence for adaptation to abiotic gradients. Questions to be addressed include: (1) Does variation in body and wing morphology across latitude and altitude match predicted responses to pressures on thermoregulation and flight? (2) Do latitude and altitude drive genetic change through dispersal limitations, or do genes exhibit signatures of environmental adaptation? (3) Do laboratory bees reared from latitude and altitude extremes exhibit differences in flight physiology and gene expression regulation in laboratory flight challenges?