Dimensions: Diversification of sensory systems in novel habitat: enhanced vision or compensation in other modalities?

了解什么有助于和阻碍快速适应，对于预测生物体对不断变化的环境的反应至关重要。冰岛充满活力的景观为冰川、火山和严重的海洋风暴所塑造的快速变化提供了一个天然的实验室。该项目的重点是海洋刺鱼，它们曾在多个淡水湖定居，因此在透明度截然不同的水域进化。这项研究考察了感觉系统的进化，以问是眼睛在浑浊的水中看得更好，还是鱼进化出了更好的嗅觉和触觉。该项目确定了基因和环境如何有助于感觉系统在不同环境中的适应。该项目为年轻科学家提供多学科的尖端培训，培养一支科学队伍，帮助处理我们社会面临的大规模环境问题。博物馆和学校的外展工作教育年轻人和老年人关于环境变化驱动的进化变化。这项研究研究了视觉、嗅觉和触觉在极端感觉环境中的适应。它评估了感官系统的差异如何影响在浑浊的冰川和清澈的湖泊中捕食者的生存。这项研究揭示了遗传变异和基因表达的差异，并重建了这些性状在多个湖泊中的殖民史和平行进化的程度。它还使用移植实验来评估感觉系统的可塑性程度。这项研究将生物多样性的表型和功能与遗传维度结合在一起，所有这些都是在历史背景下进行的。每个维度都向另一个维度提供信息，以帮助理解感觉适应。

Understanding what helps and hinders rapid adaptation is crucial to predict organism responses to changing environments. Iceland's dynamic landscape provides a natural laboratory of fast-paced changes shaped by glaciers, volcanoes, and severe oceanic storms. The focus of this project is marine stickleback fish that have colonized multiple freshwater lakes, and thus have evolved in waters differing dramatically in clarity. The research examines sensory system evolution to ask if eyes get better at seeing in murky water, or if fish instead evolve better senses of smell and touch. The project identifies how genes and environment contribute to sensory system adaptation in different environments. The project gives young scientists cutting-edge training in multiple disciplines, generating a scientific workforce to help deal with large-scale environmental issues our society faces. Outreach efforts in museums and schools educate young and old alike on evolutionary changes driven by environmental change.This research studies adaptation of sight, smell, and touch in extreme sensory environments. It assesses how differences in sensory systems affect survival from predators in murky glacial and clear lakes. The research reveals how genetic variation and gene expression differ, and reconstructs the history of colonization and the extent of parallel evolution of these traits in multiple lakes. It also uses transplant experiments to evaluate the extent of plasticity in sensory systems. This research combines the phenotypic and functional with the genetic dimensions of biodiversity, all within a historical context. Each dimension informs the other to help understand sensory adaptation.