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变化的环境的反应至关重要。冰岛的动态景观提供了一个由冰川，火山和严重的海洋风暴形成的快节奏变化的天然实验室。这个项目的重点是海洋棘鱼，已经殖民了多个淡水湖泊，因此已经在沃茨的清晰度显着不同的演变。该研究考察了感觉系统的进化，以询问眼睛是否能在浑浊的水中变得更好，或者鱼是否会进化出更好的嗅觉和触觉。该项目确定了基因和环境如何在不同的环境中促进感觉系统的适应。该项目为年轻科学家提供多个学科的尖端培训，培养一支科学工作队伍，以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了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官环境中的适应。它评估了感觉系统的差异如何影响黑暗冰川和清澈湖泊中捕食者的生存。该研究揭示了遗传变异和基因表达的差异，并重建了殖民历史和这些特征在多个湖泊中的平行进化程度。它还使用移植实验来评估感觉系统的可塑性程度。这项研究结合了生物多样性的表型和功能与遗传方面，所有这些都在历史背景下进行。每一个维度都通知另一个维度，以帮助理解感官适应。

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.