RoL:FELS:EAGER: Linking physiology, morphology, and genomics to investigate adaption to rapid environmental change

了解遗传、特征和环境之间的联系将有助于预测生物体如何对环境中的长期变化做出反应。许多生物体都适应了当地的环境，DNA测序的进步使人们能够发现负责这些适应的基因。在夏季繁殖季节，迁徙的鸣鸟柳捕鸟广泛分布在美国各地，因此不同的种群占据着非常不同的气候。一个重要的例子是濒临灭绝的西南柳蝇，它生活在美国西南部经历强烈热浪的地区。这个项目将研究这个问题：居住在不同地区的柳蝇是如何适应不同的气候的？通过测量耐热性和体型的差异，并将这些测量与DNA测序相结合，该项目将提供有关这些鸟类如何适应当前环境以及它们未来可能如何反应的重要信息。该项目将通过公众宣传和对年轻科学家的培训广泛影响社会。与气候相关的遗传变异目前已在广泛的分类群中观察到，这表明适应可以减轻气候的一些负面影响。在理解对气候的进化反应方面，主要的知识差距是：哪些性状正在被选择，以及持续的遗传变异将如何随着时间的推移而变化？在柳蝇中，发现与夏季最高温度相关的长期遗传变异可能意味着适应潜力，但由于缺乏对选择机制的理解，准确的预测受到限制。本项目将研究在耐热性中具有已知作用的形态和生理性状的遗传基础。一旦根据它们与相关性状的关联确定了假定的适应性遗传变异，该项目将检查这些遗传变异在当代和历史样本中的分布。这将建立对选择如何形成跨当代环境梯度的适应性遗传变异的理解，并明确测试常见的空间换时间替代。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。

Understanding the link between genetics, traits, and the environment will help predict how organisms respond to long-term changes in their environment. Many organisms are adapted to their local environments and advances in DNA sequencing have allowed the discovery of genes responsible for these adaptations. The migratory songbird, Willow Flycatcher, is broadly distributed across the US during the summer breeding season and therefore different populations occupy very different climates. An important example is the endangered Southwestern Willow Flycatcher, which occupies regions of the southwest US that experience intense heatwaves. This project will examine the question: How do Willow Flycatchers inhabiting different regions adapt to different climates? By measuring differences in heat tolerance and body shape and coupling these measurements with DNA sequencing, the project will provide important information about how these birds are adapted to their current environments as well as how they might respond in the future. The project will broadly impact society via public outreach and the training of young scientists.Standing genetic variation associated with climate has now been observed in a wide range of taxa, suggesting that adaptation could mitigate some negative effects of climate. The major knowledge gaps in understanding the evolutionary response to climate are: which traits are under selection and how will standing genetic variation change over time? In Willow Flycatchers the discovery of standing genetic variation associated with summer maximum temperatures could suggest adaptive potentials, but accurate prediction is limited by a lack of understanding of the selective mechanisms. This project will examine the genetic basis of morphological and physiological traits with known roles in thermal tolerance. Once putatively adaptive genetic variants have been identified based on their associations with relevant traits, the project will examine the distribution of these genetic variants in both contemporary and historic samples. This will build an understanding of how selection shapes adaptive genetic variation across contemporary environmental gradients, as well as explicitly test the common space-for-time substitution.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.