BRC-BIO: Flexible traits and functional trade-offs: an integrated analysis of gastrointestinal plasticity in mammals

生物体的表型特征信息（形态、生理和行为特征）有助于理解生态过程、进化多样化和物种对环境变化的反应。然而，现有的性状数据库不能代表大多数分类类群的地理和功能多样性。哺乳动物中与饮食和能量平衡有关的软组织结构尤其如此。这个BRC-BIO项目采用基于实地和实验室的方法来推进对生活在北美东部阿巴拉契亚山脉季节性环境中的小型哺乳动物胃肠道变化的了解。该奖项资助在三个国家生态观测网络（NEON）站点进行小型哺乳动物的季节性野外采集，生成一套全面的胃肠道表型测量，以及新的饮食分析，这些分析将建立对这些物种如何从季节性变化的食物资源中优化营养获取的理解，以支持生存和繁殖。该项目将为PI建立重要的研究和培训能力，并通过为种族和文化多样化的本科生群体创造独特的实地考察和生物多样性数据分析培训机会，以及促进新的以gi为主题的社区外展活动，实现更广泛的影响。生物体对全球变化的反应是由表型性状和种群发生的环境之间的相互作用介导的。准确地预测这些反应需要个体水平的特征测量，这些特征的形式-功能关系被很好地理解。本BRC-BIO项目的目的是促进对生活在季节性环境中的小型哺乳动物胃肠道形态、功能和可塑性的了解。胃肠道是一个关键的器官系统，其任务是围绕季节性动态资源基础优化能量平衡。然而，关于野生种群中胃肠道形态变化的方式和原因以及与饮食和能量需求的关系的知识仍然是零碎的。该项目将生成关于小型哺乳动物饮食的新的高分辨率数据，并将这些数据与宏观和微观GI代理相关联，以建立健全的形式-功能关系，并阐明哺乳动物对资源可用性变化的反应途径。这些关系将在空间（阿巴拉契亚山脉的多个NEON站点）和时间（3年和所有季节）上探索三个物种内部和之间的关系。该项目将允许PI通过扩大对软组织功能特征的调查和将博物馆标本与多个NEON数据流相结合来建立关键的研究能力。它还将建立生物多样性数据素养课程和实验室培训机会，让不同的本科生参与真实的研究和实地经验，并加快他们进入STEM领域的招聘。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。

Information on the phenotypic traits of organisms (their morphological, physiological, and behavioral properties) informs understanding of ecological processes, evolutionary diversification, and responses of species to environmental change. However, existing trait databases are not representative of the geographic and functional diversity within most taxonomic groups. This is especially true for soft tissue structures related to diet and energy balance in mammals. This BRC-BIO project takes a field- and laboratory-based approach to advance knowledge of gastrointestinal (GI) tract variation in small-bodied mammals inhabiting seasonal environments of the Appalachian Mountains of eastern North America. The award funds seasonal field collections of small mammals at three National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) sites, generation of a comprehensive suite of phenotypic measurements from the GI tract, and new dietary analyses that will establish understanding of how these species optimize nutrient acquisition from food resources that vary seasonally, in support of survival and reproduction. The project will build important research and training capacity for the PI, and achieve broader impact by creating unique training opportunities in fieldwork and biodiversity data analysis for a racially and culturally diverse group of undergraduate students, as well as by facilitating new GI-themed community outreach events. Organismal responses to global change are mediated by interactions between phenotypic traits and the environments in which populations occur. Accurately predicting these responses requires individual level measurements of traits whose form-function relationships are well-understood. The purpose of this BRC-BIO project is to advance knowledge of gastrointestinal (GI) tract form, function, and plasticity in small mammals inhabiting seasonal environments. The GI tract is a key organ system tasked with optimizing energetic balance around seasonally-dynamic resource bases. However, knowledge of how and why GI morphology varies in wild populations and in relation to diet and energy requirements remains fragmentary. This project will generate new, high-resolution data on small mammal diet and link these with macro- and microscopic GI proxies to establish robust form-function relationships and illuminate pathways of mammalian response to changing resource availability. These relationships will be explored within and among three species over space (multiple NEON sites in the Appalachian Mountains) and time (3 years and all seasons). The project will allow the PI to build critical research capacity by expanding inquiry of soft tissue functional traits and integrating museum specimens with multiple NEON data streams. It will also establish a biodiversity data literacy course and lab training opportunities that will engage diverse undergraduates in authentic research and field experiences and expedite their recruitment into STEM fields.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.