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

当社区的生物多样性更加丰富时，它们往往会更加稳定、生产力更高。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，并非所有物种都能共存，共存的规则尚不完全清楚。该项目调查了北美东部栖息地中密切相关的野花物种共存的影响因素。密切相关的物种可能具有相似的特征和相似的生态需求。一方面，相似性可能导致近亲更有可能生活在相同的环境中。另一方面，相似性可能会导致近亲在生长繁殖过程中相互竞争或干扰，导致近亲难以长期共存。长远的眼光很重要。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，并可能增加了共现性。这项研究将增进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。公共宣传活动将包括创建一个关于生物多样性和物种共存的博物馆展示。 研究小组将从北美洲东部分布范围内的 24 种本土半边莲物种的多个种群和植物标本室记录中进行定位和采样，以记录它们的生活地点和共现频率。该研究将确定当前的共现模式如何受到生态和进化过程的影响，例如相关程度、性状相似性、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，通过微位点和性状表征确定每个物种生态位的关键组成部分，以及物种干扰彼此生长或繁殖的程度。干扰是否影响它们共存的可能性将通过生殖性状的现场测量、实验杂交和移植实验来确定。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值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.