Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Biology of Fishes

鱼类进化生态学和保护生物学

• 批准号: 170146-2013
• 负责人: Hutchings, Jeffrey
• 金额: $ 4.37万
• 依托单位: Dalhousie University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2018-01-01 至 2019-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=654156
• 关键词: Evolutionary; Ecology; Conservation; Biology; Fishes

My research focuses on the tremendous variability in reproductive strategies within and among natural populations. Such life history variation can be reflected by individual differences in age & size at maturity, number of eggs per female, and offspring size. To what extent is the source of this variability genetic, environmental, or some combination thereof? This is a fundamental question to evolutionary ecology and conservation biology. Firstly, the source of variation determines whether life history responses to environmental perturbations, such as habitat alteration and harvesting, will be rapid, slow, or indeed whether they will occur at all. Secondly, the nature of the life history response, i.e., the change in reproductive strategy produced by the environmental change, can affect a population's ability to recover from collapse, persist through time, and sustain exploitation.****My proposal integrates molecular genetics with field and laboratory research. My general objectives are: 1) to determine how different reproductive strategies are maintained in variable environments; 2) to determine how populations differ in their ability to respond to environmental change; and 3) to identify factors that affect the recovery of depleted species. One study asks why very small (8cm) and very large (100cm) males are able to co-exist in populations of Atlantic salmon. Another builds upon 25 years of research on brook trout to understand how natural populations differ in their ability to respond to environmental change. Other work examines factors, such as mating behaviour, hypothesized to hinder the ability of species such as Atlantic cod to recover following collapse. From a practical or applied aspect, the impact of the proposed research lies in its potential to: (i) forecast responses by fish to climate change; (ii) understand why some numerically collapsed commercial species have not recovered; and (iii) determine whether human-induced selection (through fishing) can genetically alter the ability of individuals and populations to respond to environmental change.

我的研究重点是自然种群内部和种群之间生殖策略的巨大差异。这种生活史的差异可以通过成熟时的年龄和大小、每只雌性的卵数和后代大小的个体差异来反映。这种可变性的来源在多大程度上是遗传的、环境的，还是它们的某种组合？这是进化生态学和保护生物学的一个基本问题。首先，变异的来源决定了生命史对环境扰动（如栖息地改变和采伐）的反应是快速的还是缓慢的，或者它们是否会发生。其次，生活史反应的本质，即环境变化所产生的生殖策略的变化，可以影响种群从崩溃中恢复、持续生存和持续开发的能力。****我的建议将分子遗传学与实地和实验室研究结合起来。我的总体目标是：1)确定在不同的环境中如何维持不同的生殖策略；2)确定种群在应对环境变化的能力上的差异；3)确定影响衰竭物种恢复的因素。一项研究提出了一个问题：为什么大西洋鲑鱼的种群中，非常小（8厘米）和非常大（100厘米）的雄性鲑鱼能够共存。另一项研究基于对溪鳟长达25年的研究，旨在了解自然种群对环境变化的反应能力有何不同。其他研究则考察了一些因素，比如交配行为，这些因素被认为会阻碍大西洋鳕鱼等物种在崩溃后的恢复能力。从实际或应用的角度来看，拟议研究的影响在于其潜力：(i)预测鱼类对气候变化的反应；（ii）了解为什么一些数量锐减的商业物种没有恢复；（三）确定人类诱导的选择（通过捕鱼）是否能从基因上改变个体和种群对环境变化的反应能力。