NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2020: Do energy gradients mediate cannibalism-driven population dynamics?

该行动资助了NSF 2020财年生物学博士后研究奖学金，研究基因组，环境和表型之间相互作用的生命规则的综合研究。该奖学金支持将以创新方式对生活规则领域作出贡献的研究员的研究和培训。来自食物和热量的能量支持生存和繁殖，这表明能量的可用性可以控制种群规模，但这在很大程度上仍未得到研究。这个问题对于生活在许多不同地方的濒危生物，如生活在恶劣的北部和高海拔环境中的两栖动物来说尤为紧迫。缺乏资源的一个潜在的重要生物反应是增加同类相食。一些研究表明，同类相食会影响两栖动物（包括蝾螈）以及其他生物（如经济上重要的鱼类）的种群规模。这项研究测试了在能源匮乏的条件下，同类相食在调节种群规模方面的作用，研究对象是居住在山区池塘里的蝾螈。他将结合长期的人口数据、实验和计算机模型来测试资源的可用性如何影响同类相食在控制人口数量方面的作用。该研究员将通过创建在线课程和在农村接收机构建立K-12外展计划，扩大这项研究的影响，并发展成为一名教师和科学传播者。该研究员将采取综合方法来探索能量梯度如何影响跨多个空间和时间尺度的人口动态。对一个30多年的标记-重新捕获数据集的分析将测试虎蝾螈的招募与潜在食人者的能量之间的关系，这些能量是在科罗拉多州一个高海拔的地点和池塘中进行的。普通的花园实验和稳定同位素分析将在长期研究地点和科罗拉多州中西部的不同地点比较不同空间能量梯度的同类相食率。该研究员还将使用长期数据来参数化基于个体的种群模型，以模拟生命史对能量变化（如气候变暖）的响应对长期种群动态和生存能力的影响。奖学金获得者的培训和职业发展将进一步通过活动得到加强，包括拨款写作、分析培训、研讨会组织和学生指导，这些活动将使奖学金获得者成为一名成功的独立和合作研究人员。该项目的影响将通过教育推广而扩大。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。

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2020, Integrative Research Investigating the Rules of Life Governing Interactions Between Genomes, Environment and Phenotypes. The fellowship supports research and training of the fellow that will contribute to the area of Rules of Life in innovative ways. Energy from food and heat supports survival and reproduction, suggesting that energy availability could control population size, but this remains largely unstudied. This problem is particularly pressing for imperiled organisms such as amphibians that live in many different places including harsh northerly and high-elevation environments. One potentially important biological response to a lack of resources is increased cannibalism. Some studies have shown cannibalism affects population size in amphibians (including salamanders) as well as other organisms such as economically important fish. This research tests the role of cannibalism in regulating population size in energy-scarce conditions, focusing on salamanders inhabiting mountain ponds. The fellow will use a combination of long-term population data, experiments, and computer modeling to test how availability of resources influences the role of cannibalism in controlling population numbers. The fellow will broaden the impact of this research and develop as a teacher and science communicator by creating online lessons and establishing an K-12 outreach program at the rural host institution.The fellow will take an integrative approach to explore how energy gradients influence population dynamics across multiple spatial and temporal scales. Analyses of a 30+ year mark-recapture dataset will test relationships between tiger salamander recruitment and the energy available to potential cannibals across years and ponds at one high-elevation Colorado site. Common garden experiments and stable isotope analyses will compare cannibalism rates across spatial energy gradients both within the long-term study site and across locations throughout west-central Colorado. The fellow will also use the long-term data to parameterize individual-based population models to simulate the effects of life history responses to energetic shifts such as climate warming on long-term population dynamics and viability. The fellow’s training and career development will be further enhanced through activities including grant writing, analytical training, symposium organization, and student mentoring that will prepare the fellow to succeed as an independent and collaborative researcher. The impact of the project will be broadened by educational outreach.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.