Feeding ecology of outbreak insect species

我的研究计划的长期目标是更好地了解食物及其化学成分对昆虫的适合度和种群动态的作用，并确定在气候变化和人类操纵森林生态系统的快速变化环境下，食物质量变化对树木和昆虫的共同进化模式的影响。在本提案所涵盖的期间，我将以香脂冷杉和黑云杉上的东部云杉budworm作为模型系统，我将确定营养和化感化学物质的变化对昆虫性能的影响，不仅在取食期间，而且在其生命周期的其余时间，包括冬季滞育期间。此外，我将继续学习四代。在一个相互转移的实验设计中，在不同的冬季条件下，在连续四代的时间里，用人工喂养的低营养质量和高营养质量的云杉budworm食物，以及用未落叶树木的高营养质量的叶子（低密度budworm群体的叶子特征）和以前落叶树木的低营养质量的叶子（高密度budworm群体的叶子特征）喂养的昆虫群体。互惠转移实验方法将允许通过分配后代表型的遗传和遗传环境成分来检测对食物变质的局部适应。遗传环境效应（亲本效应）是指除核基因外，来自亲本任何一方的表型成分。虽然环境影响是遗传的（像金钱一样），但它们不是遗传的。通过将滞育后代沿纬度梯度放置在具有不同冬季温度制度的生长室中，我将能够在气候变化的背景下探索亲代食物质量与后代冬季条件之间的相互作用。

The long term objective of my research program is to better understand the role of food and its chemical composition on insect defoliator fitness and population dynamics and to determine the impacts of food quality variations on the co-evolution patterns between trees and insect defoliators in the context of rapid changing environments due to climatic change and human manipulation of forest ecosystems. During the period covered by the current proposal, I will use eastern spruce budworm on balsam fir and black spruce as a model system and I will determine the impact of variations in nutrients and allelochemicals on insect performance not only during the feeding period but also during the rest of its life cycle, including during winter diapause. In addition, I will continue the study over four successive generations. Cohorts of spruce budworm fed artificial low and high nutritive quality food as well as cohorts of insects fed high nutritive quality foliage from undefoliated trees (foliage characteristic of low density budworm populations) and low nutritive quality foliage from previously defoliated trees (foliage characteristic of high density budworm populations) will be followed during four successive generations in a reciprocal transfer experimental design and under various winter conditions. The reciprocal transfer experiment approach will allow detection of local adaptation to food deterioration by partitioning genetic and inherited environmental components of offspring phenotype. Inherited environmental effects (parental effect) are those components of the phenotype that are derived from either parent, apart from nuclear genes. Although environmental effects are inherited (like money) they are not heritable. By placing diapausing progeny along a latitudinal gradient and in growth chambers with various winter temperature regimes, I will be able to explore the interactions between parental food quality and progeny winter conditions within the context of climatic changes.