CAREER: Cooperation on the tree of life: Understanding the drivers of mite-plant defense mutualisms via the integration of evolution, ecology, and education

物种之间的合作互动在自然界中很常见，在生物多样性的产生和维持以及生态系统的运行中发挥着核心作用。然而，我们对自然界中的合作互动的理解在历史上一直落后于对竞争和捕食等对抗互动的研究，这使我们维持生物多样性和生态系统功能的能力持续存在差距。这项研究的重点是北美树木和以树叶为食、保护植物免受疾病侵袭的“保镖”螨虫之间的一种非常常见但相对未被探索的合作关系。这项研究询问了为什么一些树种与螨类合作作为一种防御形式，而其他密切相关的树种不这样做，测试了关于促进(或破坏)自然界合作的因素的一系列假说。该项目还将包括开发一门新的科学课程，允许学生参与植物合作互动的研究，并通过研究树木来发展批判性思维技能。总而言之，这项提案的研究和教育目标将产生公开的数据，这些数据涉及北美具有重要经济和生态意义的树木、它们的食草动物以及保护它们免受病虫害侵害的有益螨类。该项目还将导致对年轻科学家的动手培训，并将包括开发旨在提高课堂研究能见度的工具。这项研究将审查推动动植物防御互惠投资大规模变化模式的过程。具体地说，该项目将在三个尺度上调查尘螨生态、微观和宏观进化变异的驱动因素：(A)横跨北美东部森林群落，(B)在三个属(Viburnum、Vitis和Prunus)内，以及(C)在三个地理上广泛分布的物种--滨海葡萄(Vitis Riparia)、齿状葡萄(Viburnum Dentatum)和李属(Prunus Serotina)内。这项进化论研究与一项教育计划相结合，通过开发一门新的中级非专业课程，将数据目标与教学/培训目标相结合，名为“看到森林和树木：通过科学、艺术和社会对树木的研究”。该课程将把研究活动纳入本科教育，以提高科学素养，并将针对传统上缺乏科学接触的群体(非科学专业)，将人文和科学视角结合到一门侧重于树木研究的课程中。总而言之，研究和教育目标将允许对进化和生态签名进行测试，这些签名与关于跨地理和进化时间的互惠关系的生态驱动因素的长期假设一致。该奖项反映了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。

Cooperative interactions between species are common in nature and play a central role in the generation and maintenance of biodiversity and the functioning of ecosystems. However, our understanding of cooperative interactions in the natural world has historically lagged behind the study of antagonistic interactions, such as competition and predation, perpetuating gaps in our ability to maintain biodiversity and ecosystem function. This research focuses on a highly common, but relatively unexplored, cooperative interaction between North American trees and “bodyguard” mites that live on leaves and protect plants against disease. This research asks why some tree species cooperate with mites as a form of defense, while other closely related tree species do not, testing a range of hypotheses about the factors that promote (or break down) cooperation in nature. This project will also include the development of a new science course that allows students to participate in research on cooperative interactions in plants and develop critical thinking skills through the study of trees. Together, the research and education goals of this proposal will result in publicly available data on economically and ecologically important North American trees, their herbivores, and the beneficial mites that protect them from pests and disease. The project will also result in the hands-on training of young scientists, and will include the development of tools aimed at increasing the visibility of research in classrooms.This research will examine processes driving large-scale patterns of variation in investment in plant-animal defense mutualisms. Specifically, the project will investigate the drivers of ecological, micro-, and macro-evolutionary variation in mite domatia (heritable plant structures that house predaceous and fungiviorous mites) at three scales: (a) across eastern North American forest communities, (b) within three genera (Viburnum, Vitis, and Prunus) and (c) within three geographically wide-spread species, Vitis riparia, Viburnum dentatum, and Prunus serotina. This evolutionary research is coupled with an educational plan that integrates data objectives with teaching/training goals through the development of a new mid-level non-majors course titled “Seeing the forest and the trees: The Study of Trees through Science, Art, and Society.” The course will incorporate research activities into undergraduate education to enhance scientific literacy, and will be aimed at groups that have traditionally lacked exposure to science (non-science majors), combining humanities and science perspectives into a course focused on the study of trees. Together, the research and education aims will allow for tests of evolutionary and ecological signatures consistent with long-standing hypotheses about ecological drivers of mutualism across geography and evolutionary time.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.