CAREER:Why Are Species Where They Are? Identifying the Interplay of the Evolutionary, Environmental, and Biotic Mechanisms Driving Niche Diversification in Oedipodinae Grasshoppers

职业：物种为何存在？

• 批准号: 2144047
• 负责人: Tereza Jezkova
• 金额: $ 98.91万
• 依托单位: Miami University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-05-01 至 2027-04-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2144047&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CAREER; Why; Species; Where; They

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2).The geographic range of a species is one of its most important characteristics. Such a range is primarily determined by the ecological niche of the species, which represents the environmental conditions (such as temperature, precipitation, or vegetation) that are suitable for the species and allow it to survive and reproduce. For example, the ecological niche of the Indian tiger is represented by high temperature, high precipitation, and dense vegetation. Sometimes, similar species have very different ecological niches. The ecological niche of the snow leopard is very different from that of the tiger, even though the two species are closely related. When ecological niches differ between two related species, it can be said that these ecological niches have diverged. But how much and in what ways do ecological niches diverge between two similar species? Here, the researcher will explore niche divergence among more than 150 species of grasshoppers from throughout North America. The knowledge and tools gained from this project will be applicable to a broad variety of questions related to important topics, such as species diversity (why are there so many species in the tropics?), species conservation (how much change in environmental conditions can a species endure?), or human health (can a tropical disease spread to areas with moderate climates?). The project will provide research and educational opportunities in state-of-the-art methods in ecology and evolution at the high school, undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral levels.Despite the importance of understanding niche divergence in the fields of ecology and evolution, quantitative and qualitative characteristics of niche divergence and the mechanisms that drive their evolution have not been explored in a comprehensive way. This research will address knowledge gaps via a new theoretical and analytical framework to classify and quantify ecological niche divergence between taxa. This new classification system 1) promises to enhance understanding of different types of niche divergence; 2) can be applied to any ecosystem or group of organisms; and 3) can be used to address a broad variety of ecological and evolutionary questions. The framework will be used to explore the evolutionary, environmental, and biotic factors driving niche divergence in grasshoppers in the subfamily Oedipodinae, as a model system. Specific educational goals include advancing bioinformatics literacy necessary for success in STEM fields, providing applied skills to work with a variety of big data, and training students in interdisciplinary, integrative approaches for understanding patterns of biodiversity and advancing conservation.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.

该奖项的全部或部分资金来源于《2021 年美国救援计划法案》（公法 117-2）。物种的地理范围是其最重要的特征之一。这样的范围主要由物种的生态位决定，它代表了适合该物种并允许其生存和繁殖的环境条件（例如温度、降水或植被）。例如，印度虎的生态位以高温、高降水、植被茂密为代表。有时，相似的物种具有截然不同的生态位。雪豹的生态位与老虎有很大不同，尽管这两个物种密切相关。当两个相关物种之间的生态位不同时，可以说这些生态位已经分化。但是两个相似物种之间的生态位有多少差异以及以何种方式差异？在这里，研究人员将探索北美各地 150 多种蝗虫的生态位差异。从该项目中获得的知识和工具将适用于与重要主题相关的各种问题，例如物种多样性（为什么热带地区有这么多物种？）、物种保护（一个物种可以承受多大的环境条件变化？）或人类健康（热带疾病能否传播到气候温和的地区？）。该项目将为高中、本科生、研究生和博士后级别的生态学和进化论的最先进方法提供研究和教育机会。尽管了解生态位分歧在生态学和进化领域很重要，但生态位分歧的定量和定性特征以及驱动其进化的机制尚未得到全面的探索。这项研究将通过新的理论和分析框架来解决知识差距，对类群之间的生态位差异进行分类和量化。这个新的分类系统 1) 有望增强对不同类型利基差异的理解； 2）可应用于任何生态系统或生物群； 3）可用于解决各种生态和进化问题。该框架将作为模型系统，用于探索驱动 Oedipodinae 亚科蚱蜢生态位分化的进化、环境和生物因素。具体的教育目标包括提高 STEM 领域成功所需的生物信息学素养，提供处理各种大数据的应用技能，以及培训学生采用跨学科、综合的方法来理解生物多样性模式和推进保护。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。