The impact of environmental variability on evolutionary processes in wild animal populations impact de la variabilité environnementale sur l'evolution des populations animales

环境变化对产生和维持生物多样性的进化过程的影响很少受到关注，尽管灭绝风险与物种的进化潜力或表型可塑性有关。在以前的研究中，恒定环境的假设限制了我们对自然种群进化及其适应环境变化能力的理解。因此，有一个至关重要的需要，以量化的选择，数量遗传学参数和表型可塑性的野生动物种群考虑到现实的环境条件范围。这一分析还将更好地评估适应的空间规模。我的研究项目的目标是确定环境变化对野生动物种群进化过程的影响。我将结合联合收割机景观和分子生态学技术，强大的数量遗传学方法，如“动物模型”和长期监测标记的个人在野生鸟类种群建立谱系和量化的空间和时间尺度上的环境变化。我的计划将集中在1）建立环境变异性如何影响遗传方差和性状遗传力的数量; 2）在广泛的环境条件下评估多变量选择模式的强度和变异性; 3）量化变异水平，选择作用，以及不同环境下表型可塑性的遗传力。我的研究将基于树燕（Tachycineta bicolor），这是一种容易在巢箱中繁殖的物种，可以进行独特的标记，从而可以在种群和个体水平上进行精确的长期监测。我的计划有很大的成功机会。超过400个巢箱已经位于对比鲜明的栖息地，并已被监测了2年。经验和实验室为基础的方法相结合，使我的程序之一，极少数的数据和技术专长，需要评估在野外的进化变化。从而为研究生的培养提供了一个理想的环境。

Environmental change impacts on the evolutionary processes that produce and maintain biodiversity have received little attention despite the fact that extinction risk will be linked to a species' evolutionary potential or phenotypic plasticity. The assumption of a constant environment in previous studies limits our understanding of the evolution of natural populations and of their ability to adapt to environmental changes. There is thus a vital need to quantify selection, quantitative genetics parameters and phenotypic plasticity in wild animal populations taking into account a realistic range of environmental conditions. That analysis will also provide a better assessment of the spatial scale of adaptation. The goal of my research program is to determine the impact of environmental changes on evolutionary processes in wild animal populations. I will combine landscape and molecular ecology techniques, powerful quantitative genetics methods such as the "animal model" and long-term monitoring of marked individuals in a wild bird population to establish pedigrees and to quantify environmental variation at both the spatial and the temporal scale. My program will focus on 1) Establishing how environmental variability affects the amount of genetic variance and trait heritability; 2) Assessing both the strength and the variability of multivariate selection patterns under a wide range of environmental conditions; 3) Quantifying the level of variation in, the selection acting on, and the heritability of phenotypic plasticity under different environments. My research will be based on the Tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor), a species that readily breeds in nest boxes and can be uniquely marked, allowing precise long-term monitoring at both the population and individual levels. My program has an excellent chance of success. Over 400 nest boxes are already located in contrasting habitats and have been monitored for 2 years. The combination of empirical and laboratory-based approaches make my program one of very few with the data and the technical expertise required to assess evolutionary change in the wild. Consequently, it will provide an ideal environment for the training of graduate students.