Molecular basis of adaptation to biological invasions and its utility for conservation under global change

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Human actions alter relationships among organisms daring biologists to better understand the mechanisms and outcomes of novel biotic interactions. Among the outcomes, widespread evolutionary responses to change are quickly challenging many strategic and technical advances in the applied life sciences. Equally important, new interactions are also selecting for positive and manipulable outcomes, as when threatened organisms adapt to changed conditions, or when natives evolve to better exploit biological invaders. Among global change drivers, biological invasions bring focus to species interactions, where many of the local impacts of global change drivers are likely to play out. Invasions are also scientifically valuable as chance experiments in evolutionary ecology. This research will investigate the evolution in native insects in response to plant invasions. Specifically, I plan to explore the genetic basis of how native Australian soapberry bugs (Leptocoris tagalicus) have evolved to prosper on introduced environmental weeds related to their native hosts. In response to the introduction of different balloon vine species, Australian soapberry bugs have evolved longer mouthparts (‘beaks’) that allow them to feed on the inflated fruits. Investigating how this evolution has taken place, and how it may serve as an evolving indigenous biological control mechanism for these invasive vines, is a chief goal of this proposal. To do so, I plan to elucidate the evolutionary history of soapberry bugs living on both native and introduced hosts; compare beak length on exotics as a function of invasion age and the density of resident native host plants; determine the quantitative genetics of beak length and its consequences for the evolutionary management of invaded systems, and unravel the molecular mechanisms involved in beak adaptation. This project represents a unique link between evolutionary analyses and riparian forest ecosystem management, and it is a first step as part of a broader program to assess the validity of future adaptive biological programs using Leptocoris as a control agent. The proposed research will result in the training of several undergraduate/graduate students who will integrate their research with new technologies and education. Soapberry bugs provide an intuitively clear example of ecological adaptation, making these insects excellent ambassadors for evolution. Through the development of new tablet learning tools aimed to illustrate basic concepts of GEC and adaptation this project will complement ongoing educational programs design to increase the literacy about the science of evolution in the general public.