NSF-DEB-RAPID: Evolution of reproductive barriers in long-lived conifers

了解物种形成的机制是进化生物学的一个基本目标，对快速变化的景观中的保护和物种管理有直接影响。这项研究旨在了解繁殖障碍是如何在长寿的针叶树Torrey Pine中进化的，Torrey Pine是世界上最稀有的松树之一。限制分布到两个离散的人口，大陆人口和岛屿人口，这项研究使用了一个特别令人兴奋的方法来了解在一个长寿的物种的生殖障碍的演变，使用纵向监测植物表型和健身特性在一个共同的环境。成立于2007年，大陆，岛屿和第一代杂交苗代表岛屿母本植物受精大陆花粉捐助者种植到一个单一的共同环境在圣巴巴拉植物园。对这些树木的年度监测表明，在共同环境中成为杂交种是有优势的，杂交种相对于亲本树木更高，繁殖力也更高。然而，这种优势是否在后代中保持仍然是一个问题，这将有助于深入了解生殖隔离的机制。这项研究将研究那些定义一个物种的因素，并将对稀有，特有物种的保护和管理产生影响。这个项目将为本科生和研究生提供实地和数据库管理的机会。此外，该项目还将汇集来自政府的合作伙伴，（美国农业部-林业局），非政府组织（圣巴巴拉植物园）和研究机构，以促进这些遗传资源的长期保存，这些遗传资源具有基本的科学和应用保护价值，并具有教育影响。（松torreyana），一种罕见的，特有的加州针叶树，种植在圣巴巴拉，加州的圣巴巴拉植物园。该项目的目标是：（一）收集球果，在加利福尼亚州普拉瑟维尔的森林遗传学研究所的集装箱式公共花园内进行加工和种植;（二）收集针叶组织，用于长期储存和基因组学工作;（三）评估性状和形态数据，用于未来与基因组数据的关联分析。公共花园财产可能很快就会上市销售，这可能会限制2007年建立的大陆，岛屿和F1个体的进入，这些个体现在才繁殖并产生F2代。因此，这笔资金提供了一个机会，采样组织和收集数据的发展，一个长期的托里松项目，其目的是了解基因组和表型结构的演变，人口的差异，在长寿的针叶树。

Understanding the mechanisms underlying speciation is a fundamental aim of evolutionary biology with direct implications to conservation and species management in a rapidly changing landscape. This research aims to understand how barriers to reproduction have evolved in a long-lived conifer, Torrey Pine, one of the rarest pines in the world. With a restricted distribution to just two discrete populations, a mainland population and an island population, this research uses a particularly exciting approach to understand the evolution of reproductive barriers in a long-lived species using longitudinal monitoring of plant phenotypes and fitness characteristics within a common environment. Established in 2007, mainland, island and first-generation hybrid seedlings representing island maternal plants fertilized by mainland pollen donors were planted into a single common environment at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden. Annual monitoring of these trees suggests there is an advantage to being a hybrid in the common environment, with hybrids taller and exhibiting increased fecundity relative to parent trees. However, whether this advantage is maintained across future generations remains a question, which will provide insight into mechanisms that contribute to reproductive isolation. This research will study those factors that define a species, and will have conservation and management implications for rare, endemic species. This project will provide field and database management exposure for students at the undergraduate and graduate level. In addition, this project will bring together partners from governmental (USDA-Forest Service), non-governmental (Santa Barbara Botanic Garden) and research institutions to promote the long-term preservation of these genetic resources, which have fundamental scientific and applied conservation value, and educational impact.This RAPID project will fund a collection of data and tissue from a long-term provenance trial of Torrey Pine (Pinus torreyana), a rare, endemic California conifer planted at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden in Santa Barbara, California. The objectives of the project will be to (i) collect cones for processing and planting within a containerized common garden at the Institute of Forest Genetics in Placerville, CA, (ii) collect needle tissue for long-term storage and genomics work, and (iii) assess trait and morphological data for future association analyses with genomic data. The common garden property may be listed for sale shortly, which could restrict access to the mainland, island, and F1 individuals that were established in 2007 and that are only now reproductive and producing an F2 generation. Therefore, this funding provides an opportunity to sample tissue and collect data for the development of a longer term Torrey pine project which will aim to understand the genomic and phenotypic architecture underlying the evolution of population differences in a long-lived conifer.