Problems in evolutionary ecology and ecological parasitology: empirical tests, meta-analyses and models

由我的NSERC发现基金资助的研究的长期目标是确定影响寄生生物的成功和对其宿主的影响的生态和进化因素。寄生虫生活在其他有生命的有机体内或之上，并从这些被称为宿主的其他有机体中获得部分或全部能量需求和/或营养。寄生虫在这方面做得有多好，以及它们把自己或后代送到新宿主那里的能力有多好，决定了它们在进化意义上的成功或适合性。我和我的学生对以下问题特别感兴趣：-为什么一些寄生虫有广泛的寄主种类范围，以及寄主种类范围广泛对寄生虫及其宿主的后果；-为什么特定寄主物种的雄性和雌性在发育后表现出不同的发展轨迹，以及它们在发育后是否对寄生虫具有不同的易感性；-人类活动引起的景观和栖息地的变化是否对寄主的寄生和寄生生物的影响有影响；以及-某些寄生虫是否改变了寄主的性别，以及如果有的话，这对寄主种群有什么影响。我的实验室通常使用广泛的方法，包括基于观察和实验设计的经验测试、荟萃分析和理论模型。我的工作既是基础的，也是适用的--从简单地了解生物如何处理它们的寄生虫，到解决野生动物健康所关注的问题，特别是在经历快速变化的生态系统中(例如，芬迪湾潮间带和北极沿海生境)。我的工作在很大程度上是基于现场的，也需要使用现代工具(例如，诊断的分子方法)。我们研究寄主-寄生虫的模型关联，例如豆娘和它们的体外寄生蠕虫，以测试许多当前和相关的想法。我们还发现了新的可能非常重要的寄生虫，例如泥虾的微孢子虫。

The long-term goal of research funded by my NSERC discovery grant is to determine ecological and evolutionary factors that influence success and impact of parasitic organisms on their hosts. Parasites live in or on other living organisms, and derive some or all of their energetic requirements and/or nutrients from those other organisms, termed hosts. How good parasites are at doing this, and how good they are in getting themselves or their offspring to new hosts, determines their success or fitness in an evolutionary sense. My students and I are particularly interested in the following problems: -why some parasites have broad host species ranges, and the consequences of broad host species ranges for both parasites and their hosts; -why males and females within particular host species show different developmental trajectories and whether they are differentially susceptible to parasites following their development; -whether changes to landscapes and habitats caused by human activities has implications for parasitism of hosts and impact of parasitic organisms; and -whether certain parasites change the sex of their hosts and what impact, if any, this has on host populations. My laboratory typically uses a breadth of approaches including empirical tests based on observational and experimental designs, meta-analyses and theoretical models. My work is both fundamental and applied in scope - from simply understanding how organisms deal with their parasites to addressing issues of concern to wildlife health, particularly in ecosystems undergoing rapid change (e.g., Bay of Fundy intertidal and Arctic coastal habitats). My work is largely field based and also requires use of modern tools (e.g., molecular methods for diagnostics). We study model host-parasite associations, such as damselflies and their ectoparasitic mites, for testing many current and relevant ideas. We also discover new and potentially very important parasites, e.g., microsporidians of mudshrimp.