COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: RoL, RUI: The evolution and maintenance of variable species boundaries

合作研究：RoL、RUI：可变物种边界的演化和维持

• 批准号: 2012060
• 负责人: Luana Maroja
• 金额: $ 31.22万
• 依托单位: Williams College
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-06-01 至 2025-05-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2012060&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: COLLABORATIVE; RESEARCH; RoL; RUI; evolution

Speciation is the process through which new species are formed and is a fundamental driver of the Earth’s biodiversity. New species are defined by the combination of traits that prevent them from mating with other species. However, these traits are not static – they vary depending on the history of a particular population and across different environments. The researchers will use a combination of field and laboratory-based experiments to identify key traits that define two closely related species and test how those traits vary across space. They will then expand their study to other closely related species to test whether traits that define speciation are predictable across a group of species. The project will test new genome sequencing tools in wild populations, inspiring new areas of research in evolution, behavior, and conservation. It will also contribute to the understanding of how new species arise, how they persist across different environments, and whether comparisons between related species are useful to learn about speciation when applied to a broader group of organisms. Through this project, the researchers will provide critical training to undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral researchers. The researchers will also develop public citizen science resources to help document species diversity across the Colorado Front Range. These resources will improve undergraduate science curriculum and public science education through meaningful scientific experiences.Classic evolutionary theory assumes that species boundaries are fixed differences between species, but barriers between species vary over different temporal, spatial, ecological, and historical contexts. The extent and consequences of this variation on the evolution and maintenance of species boundaries is largely unknown and has not been studied comprehensively in a single system. The proposed research will connect patterns of population level variation to the origin and maintenance of reproductive barriers across a species complex. It will integrate studies of barrier phenotypes (temporal, habitat, behavioral, fertilization, and postzygotic isolation) with patterns of spatial variation in recombination, hybridization, and selection. The researchers will use replicate hybrid zones of North American field crickets to understand variation in reproductive barriers across different scales of biological diversity—within species, between species across multiple independent contact zones of different ages, and across a species complex with overlapping ranges. Key outcomes will be 1) integration of the ecological, behavioral, and genomic context for variation in species barriers, 2) an empirical test of the role of variable reproductive barriers in maintaining species boundaries, 3) a test of the repeatability of the evolution of reproductive barriers across multiple species pairs, and 4) meaningful research experiences for undergraduate non-STEM majors and the public that will increase public engagement with, and appreciation for, nature and science.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.

物种形成是新物种形成的过程，是地球生物多样性的基本驱动力。新物种的定义是阻止它们与其他物种交配的特征的组合。然而，这些特征不是静态的-它们取决于特定人群的历史和不同的环境。研究人员将结合实地和实验室实验来确定定义两个密切相关物种的关键特征，并测试这些特征如何在空间中变化。然后，他们将把研究扩展到其他密切相关的物种，以测试定义物种形成的特征是否可以在一组物种中预测。该项目将在野生种群中测试新的基因组测序工具，激发进化，行为和保护的新研究领域。它还将有助于了解新物种如何产生，它们如何在不同的环境中持续存在，以及相关物种之间的比较是否有助于了解应用于更广泛的生物群体时的物种形成。通过这个项目，研究人员将为本科生，研究生和博士后研究人员提供关键培训。研究人员还将开发公共公民科学资源，以帮助记录整个科罗拉多前线山脉的物种多样性。这些资源将通过有意义的科学经验来改善本科科学课程和公共科学教育。经典进化论假设物种边界是物种之间的固定差异，但物种之间的障碍会随着不同的时间，空间，生态和历史背景而变化。这种变化对物种边界的进化和维持的程度和后果在很大程度上是未知的，也没有在一个单一的系统中进行全面的研究。拟议中的研究将把种群水平变化的模式与跨物种复合体的生殖障碍的起源和维持联系起来。它将整合障碍表型（时间，栖息地，行为，受精和合子后隔离）与重组，杂交和选择的空间变异模式的研究。研究人员将使用北美田野蟋蟀的复制杂交区来了解不同生物多样性尺度上生殖障碍的变化-物种内，不同年龄的多个独立接触区的物种之间，以及具有重叠范围的物种复合体。主要成果将是1）整合物种障碍变化的生态，行为和基因组背景，2）对可变生殖障碍在维持物种边界中的作用进行实证检验，3）对多个物种对生殖障碍进化的可重复性进行检验，和4）为本科非STEM专业和公众提供有意义的研究经验，这将增加公众对STEM的参与和欣赏，该奖项反映了NSF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。