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

影响生物的环境变化，如温度变化，可能缓慢发生（几年到几十年），也可能迅速发生（一天或一个季节）。本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，并检查这样做的能力如何影响它们的生长，生存和丰度。这项研究还探讨了适应突然环境变化的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、管理和理论都有意义，因为它将提高我们预测短期和长期环境变化后果的能力。这项研究将通过研究生和本科生参与研究和开发一个免费的教学模块来培养他们。拓展机会包括为小学生开发互动“科学工具包”和以博物馆为导向的活动。逐渐的可塑性，即生物体暴露于环境变化后影响其表现的非遗传变化，是一个被忽视但重要的过程，它可能决定生物体的成功及其生态相互作用的结果。本研究将利用实验室和实地实验，以及几种浮游植物，建立一个综合的经验和理论框架，以探索逐渐可塑性的生态学含义。这项工作将i)描述与物种内和物种间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，以及iii)开发模型，探索在面对可变环境变化时，逐渐适应如何影响物种的入侵、竞争和共存。这项工作将为研究和预测各种生态群落的变化提供基础。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并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，被认为值得支持。

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.