Evolution in stage structured populations

生命周期阶段是生物体普遍存在的特征。从绿色藻类的细胞分裂阶段，到蛾类的卵、幼虫、蛹和有翅成虫阶段，这些阶段代表了生物体生命中功能上不同的生物学点，具有不同的资源需求和不同的生活史特征（即，出生率、死亡率和发展率）。正如我们开始理解的那样，种群中的这种“阶段结构”会对与管理、保护和理解这些种群对环境变化的长期反应有关的生物动态产生影响。我的研究旨在从生物体生活史到生态和进化动力学建立预测联系。我使用理论和实验生物学的跨学科方法，其中包括开发在个人规模和人口规模上进行实验测试的数学模型。在这项资助中，我们将推进我们对阶段结构种群进化的理解。特别是，我们将研究人口动态如何影响生活史进化和反过来的影响进化对生态动态。我们的实验将使用两个具有阶段结构生活史的生物系统，但它们的进化过程不同：i）病原体-淡水动物-藻类系统和ii）陆地甲虫-豆类资源系统。HQP将接受数学生物学和实验生物学接口的培训，这为他们提供了医学、研究（政府和学术）、政策和环境咨询职业所需的技能。结构化系统在自然界中很常见。其中一些系统在经济和社会重要领域具有重要意义，如红鲑鱼的动态、山松甲虫的侵扰、云杉芽虫的爆发、鳕鱼种群的管理。我们的研究的贡献将是发展一个理论框架，用于理解结构化系统中的进化，该框架可能适用于一系列生物系统，并且已经过实验测试。

Life cycle stages are a ubiquitous feature of organisms. From stages of cell division in green algae, to the stages of egg, larvae, pupae and winged adults in moths, these stages represent functionally different biological points in an organism's life with different resource needs and different life history traits (i.e., birth, death and development rates). As we are beginning to understand, such 'stage-structure' in a population can have an impact on biological dynamics that is relevant to management, conservation and understanding the long-term response of these populations to environmental change. My research aims to develop a predictive link from organism life histories to ecological & evolutionary dynamics. I use an interdisciplinary approach of theoretical and experimental biology, which involves developing mathematical models that are experimentally tested at both the individual-scale and population-scale. In this grant, we will advance our understanding of evolution in stage-structured populations. In particular, we will study how population dynamics influence life history evolution and-in turn-the impact evolution has on ecological dynamics. Our experiments will use two biological systems with stage-structured life histories, but that differ in their evolutionary processes: i) a pathogen-freshwater zooplankton-algae system and ii) a terrestrial beetle-bean resource system. HQP will receive training at the interface of mathematical biology and experimental biology, which gives them skills that are in demand for careers in medicine, research (government and academic), policy and environmental consulting. Structured systems are common in nature. Some of the systems are important in economically and socially important areas, such as the dynamics of sockeye salmon, infestations of mountain pine beetles, outbreaks of spruce budworm, management of cod stocks. The contribution of our research will be the development of a theoretical framework for understanding evolution in structured systems that is likely applicable to a range of biological systems, and which has been tested experimentally.