DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Comparative Phylogeography and Thermal Ecology of Puerto Rican Anoles

本研究项目对波多黎各蜥蜴热适应的系统地理学进行了研究。在波多黎各，姐妹种在形态上相似，但在热生物学上存在差异，这表明热适应对它们的进化很重要。最近的模型预测，在气候变化期间，一些热带变温动物将无法足够快地适应，因此它们面临灭绝。该研究探讨了导致局部适应的过程，并为未来研究因人为气候变化而导致的种群遗传学、迁移和选择的变化提供了重要的遗传基线。通过将研究与华盛顿大学和波多黎各大学的本科生培训相结合，该提案为未来的科学家提供了学习野外生物学和分子遗传学技术的机会。本研究旨在通过生理实验和基因组技术相结合，了解热适应与谱系分化之间的关系。本研究的目的是：(1)确定多个生理上不同的姐妹物种是如何进化的；(2)阐明跨越热梯度的物种的系统地理和基因流动模式；(3)研究温度调节与自然选择之间的关系。该项目使用多物种比较框架来了解产生和维持当地热适应种群的常见人口统计过程，如基因流动速率、地理隔离和分化选择。本研究将利用新一代测序和新的分析方法来测试复杂的种群分化和局部适应模型，从而推动统计系统地理学和生态生理学领域的发展。通过研究新生谱系的热适应，结果将增加越来越多的关于热带变温动物热适应潜力的文献。

This research project investigates the phylogeography of thermal adaptation in Anolis lizards from Puerto Rico. On Puerto Rico, sister-species are morphologically similar but they are divergent in thermal biology, indicating that thermal adaptation has been important for their evolution. Recent models predict that some tropical ectotherms will be unable to adapt fast enough during climate change and therefore they face extinction. This research investigates the processes that lead to local adaptation and provides an important genetic baseline for future studies investigating changes in population genetics, migration, and selection due to anthropogenic climate change. By combining research with training of undergraduates at the University of Washington and the University of Puerto Rico, this proposal provides opportunities for future scientists to learn techniques in field biology and molecular genetics. By combining physiological experiments and genomic techniques, this research aims to understand the relationship between thermal adaptation and lineage divergence. The goals of this study are: (1) determine how multiple physiologically divergent sister-species evolved, (2) illuminate the phylogeographic and gene flow patterns of species that span thermal gradients, and (3) investigate the relationship between thermoregulation and natural selection. The project uses a multi-species comparative framework to understand the common demographic processes, such as rates of gene flow, geographic isolation, and divergent selection, that generate and maintain local thermally-adapted populations. This research will advance the fields of statistical phylogeography and ecophysiology by utilizing next-generation sequencing and novel analytical methods to test complex models of population divergence and local adaptation. By investigating thermal adaptation in nascent lineages, the results will add the growing literature on the potential for thermal adaptation in tropical ectotherms.