Collaborative Research: RoL: Local adaptation, hybrid breakdown, and species barriers in North American chickadees

了解新物种是如何维持的是进化生物学的一个主要目标。当相似的物种生活在不同的栖息地时，自然选择可能会为每个物种产生不同的专门化。在北美，有几种被称为山雀的小鸟。一些山雀物种生活在较温暖的气候中，另一些则生活在较冷的气候中。当它们的范围重叠时，不同的物种可以相互杂交。这项研究的目的是了解与非杂交山雀相比，杂交山雀的代谢效率是否更低，生存时间是否更短。如果杂交种的存活率低，这可能有助于维持不同的物种。公众将是该项目的关键部分。他们将通过监测后院的鸟类喂食者来帮助收集生存数据。此外，研究小组将与科罗拉多大学科学探索分校合作，为K-12课堂制作教育材料。这些材料将探索进化论、生理学和遗传学的相关主题。本研究有三个目的。第一个是了解黑帽山雀和卡罗莱纳山雀之间的遗传分化和基因流的模式。第二项研究是测量这些山雀及其杂交后代在新陈代谢、身体成分和基因表达方面的差异。第三个是将前两个目标的数据与健康和生存联系起来。为了实现这些目标，这项研究将从跨越三个纬度梯度的种群中抽取山雀样本。在其他数据类型中，这项工作将把全基因组序列数据和整个生物体的表现数据与公众收集的越冬喂食率数据结合起来，开发一个关于局部适应如何对物种做出贡献的综合模型。这一奖项反映了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 how new species are maintained is a major goal of evolutionary biology. When similar species live in different habitats, natural selection may produce different specializations for each species. In North America, there are several species of small birds known as chickadees. Some chickadee species live in warmer climates, others live in colder ones. When their ranges overlap, the different species can hybridize with one another. The goal of the research is to understand whether hybrid chickadees have less efficient metabolisms and reduced survival when compared with non-hybrid chickadees. If hybrids have low survival this may help maintain separate species. Members of the public will be critical parts of the project. They will help collect data on survival by monitoring backyard bird feeders. In addition, the research team will work with University of Colorado Science Discovery to create educational materials for K-12 classrooms. These materials will explore relevant topics in evolution, physiology and genetics. This research has three aims. The first is to understand patterns of genetic divergence and gene flow between Black-capped and Carolina chickadees. The second is to measure differences in metabolism, body composition and gene expression in these chickadees and their hybrids. The third is to relate the data from the first two aims to fitness and survival. To meet these aims, the research will sample chickadees from populations spanning three latitudinal gradients. Among other data types, the work will combine whole genome sequence data and whole organism performance data with data gathered by the public on over-winter feeding rates to develop an integrated model of how local adaptation contributes to speciation.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.