Collaborative Research: RAPID: Capturing initial eco-evolutionary dynamics of a novel chemical invader

强大的人类参与的选择可以导致改变生态动态的特征的快速进化。这种生态进化过程也可能导致生物系统发生不可预测的变化。例如，除草剂的应用会在植物中引起一系列反应，如死亡、生长受阻或改变幸存者的开花时间。暴露在除草剂下的植物种群往往会进化出抗性。目前尚不清楚这些除草剂诱导的变化是否会影响群落的其他关键生态成分，如植物与传粉者的相互作用。这项研究将研究除草剂在作物相关杂草群落内应用的潜在生态进化效应。研究人员将利用即将广泛应用的新型除草剂麦草畏。这项工作是专门为捕捉麦草畏在农业中使用的最初动态而设计的。这项研究将集中在作物相关杂草群落及其与昆虫传粉者的相互作用。归根结底，该项目对农业系统在人为影响下的健康和复原力具有广泛的影响。这些野生物种的进化可能会对农业的可持续性、粮食生产的经济学和人类健康产生重大影响。这里研究的生态进化力量可能会产生进化反应，导致重大的生态变化。然而，对这些现象的理解是不完整的，因为到目前为止，很少有自然系统被研究进化特征和生态影响之间的直接联系。此外，这类系统的初始动态很少被捕捉到。这项拟议的研究利用即将广泛应用的一种新除草剂来研究其对作物相关杂草群落的生态和进化过程的级联影响，包括重要的天然传粉者。这项工作将检验关于初始生态和进化过程的四个假说。需要研究的生态过程包括表型可塑性在入侵动态中的作用以及传粉者丰度和多样性的变化。进化过程包括植物物种的丧失和遗传多样性的减少。这项工作将结合实地研究和遗传分析来捕捉预计将非常迅速地进行的动态中的初始过程。这项研究将提供对发生在农业-生态界面的生态进化过程的关键阶段的关键洞察。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Strong human-mediated selection can cause rapid evolution in traits that alter ecological dynamics. Such eco-evolutionary processes may also lead to unpredictable changes in biological systems. The application of herbicides, for example, causes a range of responses in plants such as death, stunted growth, or the alteration of flowering times of survivors. Plant populations exposed to herbicide often evolve resistance. It is not known if these herbicide-induced changes can affect other key ecological components of a community such as plant-pollinator interactions. This research will examine the potential for cascading eco-evolutionary effects of herbicide application within crop associated weed communities. The researchers will take advantage of the impending widespread application of the novel herbicide dicamba. The work is specifically designed to capture the initial dynamics of dicamba's use in agriculture. This research will focus on the crop-associated weed community and its interaction with insect pollinators. Ultimately, this project has broad implications for the health and resilience of agricultural systems following human-mediated influences. The evolution of these wild species may have substantial effects on agricultural sustainability, the economics of food production, and human health.The eco-evolutionary forces studied here are likely to create evolutionary responses that lead to significant ecological change. An understanding of these phenomena is incomplete, however, as few natural systems have so far been examined for direct links between evolving traits and ecological impacts. Moreover, the initial dynamics in such systems are rarely captured. The proposed research takes advantage of the upcoming widespread application of a new herbicide to study its cascading effects on ecological and evolutionary processes in crop-associated weed communities, including important natural pollinators. This work will test four hypotheses concerning the initial ecological and evolutionary processes. Ecological processes to be studied include the role of phenotypic plasticity in invasion dynamics and changes in pollinator abundances and diversity. Evolutionary processes include plant species losses and reductions in genetic diversity. The work will use a combination of field studies and genetic analyses to capture the initial processes in a dynamic that is expected to proceed very rapidly. This research will provide key insight into a critical stage of eco-evolutionary processes that occur at the agro-ecological interface.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.