Collaborative Research: Uncovering the population and community level consequences of phenotypic plasticity

影响生物体的环境变化，如温度变化，可能发生得很慢（几年到几十年），也可能发生得更快（一天或一个季节）。这项研究使用几种类型的单细胞藻类来了解生物体如何适应环境的快速变化，并研究这种能力如何影响它们的生长，生存和丰度。本研究还探讨了适应突发环境变化能力的变化如何影响一个地区生物之间的关系。这项工作对保护，管理和理论都有影响，因为它将提高我们在短期和长期尺度上预测环境变化后果的能力。 这项研究将通过参与研究和开发免费教学模块来培训研究生和本科生。外联机会包括为小学生和博物馆导向的活动开发互动式“科学工具包”。逐渐的可塑性，即生物体在暴露于环境变化后影响其性能的非遗传变化，是一个被忽视但重要的过程，可能决定生物体的成功及其生态相互作用的结果。本研究将使用实验室和现场实验，和几种浮游植物，开发一个综合的经验和理论框架，探索逐渐可塑性的生态影响。这项工作将i）表征与物种内和跨物种的个体相关的适应特征，ii）研究适应率如何影响种群动态和反应规范的形状，iii）开发模型，探索逐步适应如何影响入侵，竞争和共存的物种在面对可变的环境变化。这项工作将为研究和预测各种生态群落的变化提供基础。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来支持。

Changes in the environment that affect organisms, such as in temperature, may occur slowly (over years to decades) or may occur more rapidly (over a day or season). This study uses several types of single celled algae to understand how organisms adjust to rapid changes in their environment and to examine how the ability to do so may influence their growth, survival, and abundance. This study also explores how changes in the ability to adjust to sudden environmental change can influence the relationships among organisms in an area. This work has implications for conservation, management, and theory because it will improve our ability to predict the consequences of environmental change at both short and longer time scales. This study will train graduate and undergraduate students through their participation in research and the development of a complimentary teaching module. Outreach opportunities include the development of interactive 'science kits' for elementary students and Museum oriented activities. Gradual plasticity, the non-genetic changes to an organism that influence its performance following its exposure to environmental change, is an overlooked but important process that may determine an organism's success and the outcomes of their ecological interactions. This study will use laboratory and field-based experiments, and several species of phytoplankton, to develop an integrative empirical and theoretical framework to explore the ecological implications of gradual plasticity. This work will i) characterize the features of acclimation associated with individuals within and across species, ii) examine how acclimation rates influence population dynamics and the shape of reaction norms, and iii) develop models that explore how gradual acclimation affects the invasion, competition, and coexistence of species in the face of variable environmental change. This work will provide a foundation for studying and forecasting changes in a wide variety of ecological communities.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.