Collaborative: BEE: Ecological and evolutionary processes affecting the co-existence of close relatives

当社区的生物多样性更高时，它们往往会更稳定和更有生产力。影响生物多样性的一个关键因素是可以同时生活在同一地点的物种数量。然而，并不是所有的物种都可以共存，监管共存的规则也没有完全被理解。该项目调查了北美东部栖息地中控制密切相关野生花卉物种共存的因素。亲缘关系密切的物种可能具有相似的特征和相似的生态需求。一方面，相似可能导致近亲更有可能生活在相同的环境中。另一方面，相似之处可能会导致近亲在生长和繁殖过程中相互竞争或相互干扰，使近亲难以长期共存。长远的观点很重要。最近，北美东部的冰川迫使物种向南迁徙。这种迁移改变了冰川作用后物种的地理分布，并可能增加共生现象。这项研究将提高我们对生态和进化过程如何影响共存和生物多样性的理解。该项目将为学生提供广泛的培训。公众宣传将包括建立一个关于生物多样性和物种共存的博物馆展示。研究小组将从北美东部24种原生半边莲物种的多个种群和草药记录中定位并采样，以记录它们生活在哪里以及它们共同出现的频率。这项研究将确定生态和进化过程如何影响当今的共生模式，如关联度、特征相似性、栖息地特征或历史迁徙。调查将包括通过系统基因组学确定物种关系，通过微站点和特征特征确定每个物种生态位的关键组成部分，以及物种对彼此生长或繁殖的干扰程度。干扰是否影响它们共存的可能性将通过对生殖特征、实验杂交和移植实验的现场测量来确定。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。

When communities are more biodiverse, they tend to be more stable and more productive. A key factor affecting biodiversity is the number of species that can live in the same place at the same time. However, not all species can co-exist, and the rules regulating co-existence are not completely understood. This project investigates the factors governing the co-occurrence of closely related wildflower species in habitats throughout eastern North America. Closely related species are likely to have similar traits and similar ecological needs. On one hand, similarities may result in close relatives being more likely to live in the same environments. On the other hand, similarities may cause close relatives to compete or interfere with one another during growth and reproduction, making it difficult for close relatives to co-occur in the long term. The long-term view is important. Relatively recently, glaciers in eastern North America forced species to migrate southward. This migration changed species’ geographic distributions after glaciation and likely increased co-occurrence. This research will improve our understanding of how ecological and evolutionary processes affect co-existence and biodiversity. The project will provide broad training for students. Public outreach will include creation of a museum display on biodiversity and species co-existence. The research team will locate and sample from multiple populations and herbaria records of 24 native Lobelia species across their ranges in eastern North America to document where they live and how often they co-occur. The study will determine how present-day patterns of co-occurrence are affected by both ecological and evolutionary processes, such as degree of relatedness, trait similarity, habitat characteristics, or historical migration. Investigations will include determination of species relationships via phylogenomics, key components of each species’ niche via microsite and trait characterization, and the degree to which species interfere with one another’s growth or reproduction. Whether interference affects their likelihood of co-existing will be determined using field measurements of reproductive traits, experimental crosses, and transplant experiments.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.