MCA: Identifying the genomic mechanisms mediating rapid responses to environmental change in a widespread songbird

快速变化的环境条件正在引起栖息地分布、繁殖时间和允许动物调节体温的特征的巨大变化。在这种情况下，预计特别重要的一个特征是身体大小。预计较小的动物比较大的动物能够更好地散热。因此，许多生物体预计将缩小，以应对迅速上升的温度。在各种动物中已经记录了身体大小的下降，但这些反应背后的遗传机制尚未得到很好的理解，这些信息对于预测生物体如何应对气候变化至关重要。这项研究将使用现代基因组技术来研究生物体如何应对温度上升，并为PI提供现代基因组技术的基本培训，这将大大提高她在各个阶段指导博士后和学生的能力，并丰富她的研究生和本科生课程的质量。这项研究还将支持一项为期一天的关于气候变化的活动的发展，该活动将在北达科他州的部落学院向初高中美洲原住民学生展示。了解使生物体对不断变化的环境条件做出反应的机制是进化生物学的一个中心目标，在气候变化面前变得越来越紧迫。虽然进化适应预计将有助于减轻迅速上升的温度的影响，但它们随着时间的推移而变化的程度以及与种群动态的关系还没有得到很好的理解。为了解决这些重要的知识差距，在美国各地收集的一套独特的家雀标本，大约相隔60年，将用于：1）识别与气候变量和体型相关的基因组区域，2）确定在这些相同基因组区域中历史上和当代收集的标本之间的差异程度，3）评估基因组脆弱性在多大程度上预测了种群丰度的变化。这项研究将为快速应对气候变化的基因组机制以及人口水平过程的后果提供新的见解，该项目由综合生态生理学计划和刺激竞争研究的既定计划（EPSCoR）联合资助。该奖项反映了NSF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。

Rapidly changing environmental conditions are inducing dramatic shifts in habitat distributions, the timing of breeding, and traits that allow animals to regulate their body temperature. One trait expected to be particularly important in this context is body size. Smaller animals are expected to be better able to dissipate heat than larger animals. Consequently, many organisms are expected to shrink in response to rapidly rising temperatures. Declining body size has been documented in diverse animals, but the genetic mechanisms that underlie these responses are not well understood and this information will be critical for predicting how organisms will respond to climate change. This research will use modern genomic techniques to study how organisms are responding to rising temperatures and provide essential training in modern genomic techniques for the PI that will greatly enhance her ability to mentor post-docs and students at all stages and enrich the quality of her graduate and undergraduate courses. This research will also support the development of a daylong activity about climate change to be presented to middle and high school Native American students at tribal colleges in North Dakota.Understanding the mechanisms that allow organisms to respond to changing environmental conditions is a central goal of evolutionary biology and is becoming increasingly urgent in the face of climate change. Although evolutionary adaptations are expected to help mitigate the effects of rapidly rising temperatures, the degree to which they are changing over time and related to population dynamics is not well understood. To address these important gaps in knowledge, a unique set of house sparrow specimens collected at sites throughout the U.S. approximately 60 years apart will be used to: 1) identify genomic regions associated with climate variables and body size, 2) determine the degree of divergence between historically and contemporarily collected specimens in these same genomic regions, and 3) assess the extent to which genomic vulnerability predicts changes in population abundance. This research will provide novel insight into the genomic mechanisms that underlie rapid responses to climate change and the consequences for population level processes, which will be essential for predicting the long-term outcomes of global warming.This project is jointly funded by Integrative Ecological Physiology Program and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).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.