DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Speciation, niche divergence, and character displacement at multiple scales in Lasiopogon robber flies (Diptera: Asilidae)

论文研究：Lasiopogon 强盗蝇（双翅目：Asilidae）的物种形成、生态位分歧和多个尺度的特征位移

• 批准号: 1601389
• 负责人: L. Lacey Knowles
• 金额: $ 2万
• 依托单位: Regents of the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-06-01 至 2018-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1601389&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: DISSERTATION; RESEARCH; Speciation; niche; divergence

How are distinct niches in communities filled when interactions among species may constrain potential overlap? Robber flies in the genus Lasiopogon are a widespread group of insect predators that hunt in many environments, such as dunes, beaches, trails, streamsides, and sagebrush landscapes. Specializations such as perching habits or seasonal emergence times provide a way for species with overlapping ranges to reduce competition. The goal of this project is to compare diversification patterns and similarities in geographic range, niche, and morphology throughout the 60 species of North American Lasiopogon to uncover not just when and where a given species split, but how regional communities (i.e., who it evolved with) influenced this diversification. Understanding the processes of adaptation at regional and local scales will help show how environmental cues and interactions among species maintain and promote biodiversity, providing lessons about potential responses of species to shifting environments. This research will promote taxonomic expertise and training in a diverse but understudied group of insects (robber flies). Furthermore, since many Lasiopogon species have highly specialized habitat requirements, this work will provide data for studying community changes precipitated by urban spread, manmade irrigation, and climate change. An undergraduate student will be trained in Asilidae taxonomic and biodiversity research, and distributional and ecological information
from this study will be shared on general and taxon-specific websites. Species niches are a distillation of their interactions with other members of the community and their phylogenetic history. This research will estimate evolutionary relationships among North American Lasiopogon from sequencing multiple loci. Microniche characteristics and ecological niche models will be estimated from museum specimens and samples by the PIs. Phylogenetic comparative methods will then be used to examine the effects of ecological specialization at different spatial scales and morphological character displacement on diversification and community assembly. This study design will reveal whether ecological and morphological differences accumulated during or after species divergence, and which axes of variation (coarse- or fine-scaled ecology, morphology, phenology) have been more influential in fueling character displacement and competitive specialization.

当物种之间的相互作用可能限制潜在的重叠时，社区中的不同壁nike如何？抢劫者在Lasiopogon属中苍蝇是一群广泛的昆虫捕食者，它们在许多环境中进行狩猎，例如沙丘，海滩，小径，溪流和鼠尾草景观。诸如养育习惯或季节性出现时间之类的专业化为有重叠范围的物种提供了一种减少竞争的方式。该项目的目的是比较北美Lasiopogon 60种地理范围，利基和形态的多样化模式和相似性，不仅揭示了给定物种的何时何地分裂，还可以揭示区域社区（即与之发展的谁）影响这一多元化。了解在区域和地方尺度上适应的过程将有助于展示物种之间的环境线索和相互作用如何维持和促进生物多样性，从而提供有关物种对变化环境的潜在反应的经验教训。这项研究将促进分类学专业知识和培训，以多种而研究的昆虫（强盗蝇）。此外，由于许多Lasiopogon物种都有高度专业化的栖息地要求，因此这项工作将提供数据，以研究由城市蔓延，人造灌溉和气候变化引起的社区变化。一名本科生将接受Asilidae分类学和生物多样性研究的培训，本研究的分销和生态信息将在一般和分类特定的网站上共享。物种壁ches是对他们与社区其他成员及其系统发育史的相互作用的提炼。这项研究将通过对多个基因座进行排序，估计北美Lasiopogon之间的进化关系。 PIS将从博物馆标本和样品中估算微小的特征和生态利基模型。然后，将使用系统发育比较方法来检查不同空间尺度和形态特征位移对多样化和社区组装的影响。这项研究设计将揭示物种差异期间或之后积累的生态和形态学差异，以及哪些变异轴（粗或细刻度生态学，形态，候位）在加油角色位移和竞争性专业方面是否具有更大的影响力。