Examining links between behaviour, plasticity and diversification under environmental heterogeneity using broadly distributed spider species

使用广泛分布的蜘蛛物种检查环境异质性下行为、可塑性和多样化之间的联系

• 批准号: RGPIN-2017-06060
• 负责人: Andrade, Maydianne
• 金额: $ 2.4万
• 依托单位: University of Toronto
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2019-01-01 至 2020-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=684706
• 关键词: Examining; links; between; behaviour; plasticity

Understanding factors that drive and maintain biodiversity is a critical issue in contemporary biology, particularly as species are exposed to rapid climate change, habitat fragmentation, and other environmental alterations that challenge survival. A broad understanding of how organisms respond to environmental heterogeneity at a variety of scales is essential for addressing these contemporary problems. One area that may have predictive power is the study of plasticity-- how and when organisms vary in trait expression under variable environmental conditions. Plasticity may confer resilience for populations despite environmental challenges; allowing survival under a wider range of conditions than would otherwise be possible, and providing sufficient time for adaptation. There are many hypotheses for the evolution of different forms of plasticity, and these have been comprehensively tested in plants and a handful of model systems. Our understanding is hampered however, by the limited taxonomic range of these models. Here I propose studies that will provide a significant leap in understanding by testing hypotheses for the evolution of adaptive plasticity in taxa for which my past work has defined the ecological and social contexts linked to plasticity, and demonstrated the tractability of experimental study in the field and lab. My research personnel and I will use two species of sexually cannibalistic black widow' spiders (Latrodectus hesperus, Latrodectus hasselti) and a mate-guarding jumping spider (Phidippus clarus) to ask about the scale of environmental variation that causes evolutionary adaptation or plasticity. All three species have broad geographic ranges and are exposed to varied environmental conditions in nature, as well as experiencing local shifts in selection as mating seasons progress. All are amenable to study in the field and lab. Moreover, since spiders are top predators of terrestrial invertebrates, they are a critical part of terrestrial food webs. Here I propose studies of multiple populations of each species to test sex-specific hypotheses about the evolution of plasticity. Work will assay how phenotypic variation affects fitness in nature across latitudinal clines, testing my predictions that this is mediated by sexual competition in males and naturally-selected competition over food and refuges in females. Laboratory studies, linked to insights from field work, will quantify (1) clinal divergence in adaptive phenotypes and (2) whether the degree of plasticity across latitudinal gradients is predicted by abiotic conditions versus local variation in demographic context. In this proposal, I leverage my lab's extensive expertise in integrated field and laboratory studies of reproductive fitness to provide new understanding of the conditions that shape the evolution of adaptive plasticity across at a range of temporal and spatial scales.

理解驱动和维持生物多样性的因素是当代生物学的一个关键问题，特别是当物种暴露于快速的气候变化、栖息地破碎化和其他挑战生存的环境变化时。广泛了解生物体如何在各种尺度上对环境异质性作出反应，对于解决这些当代问题至关重要。一个可能具有预测能力的领域是对可塑性的研究——在不同的环境条件下，生物体如何以及何时在性状表达上发生变化。尽管面临环境挑战，可塑性可能赋予种群恢复力；允许在更广泛的条件下生存，并提供足够的时间来适应。关于不同形式的可塑性的进化有许多假设，这些假设已经在植物和少数模型系统中得到了全面的测试。然而，由于这些模型的分类范围有限，我们的理解受到阻碍。在这里，我提出的研究将通过测试分类群中适应性可塑性进化的假设，为理解提供重大飞跃，我过去的工作已经定义了与可塑性相关的生态和社会背景，并证明了实地和实验室实验研究的可追溯性。我和我的研究人员将利用两种性同类相食的黑寡妇蜘蛛（Latrodectus hesperus, Latrodectus hasselti）和一种护偶跳蛛（Phidippus clarus）来探讨引起进化适应或可塑性的环境变化的规模。这三个物种都有广泛的地理分布范围，在自然界中暴露于不同的环境条件下，并且随着交配季节的进展，在当地的选择也会发生变化。所有这些都适合在现场和实验室进行研究。此外，由于蜘蛛是陆生无脊椎动物的顶级捕食者，它们是陆生食物网的重要组成部分。在这里，我建议对每个物种的多个种群进行研究，以检验关于可塑性进化的性别特异性假设。工作将分析表型变异如何影响自然中跨纬度的适应度，验证我的预测，即这是由雄性的性竞争和雌性对食物和避难所的自然选择竞争介导的。实验室研究与实地工作的见解相结合，将量化(1)适应性表型的临床差异；(2)跨纬度梯度的可塑性程度是否由非生物条件和人口背景下的局部变化来预测。在本提案中，我利用我的实验室在生殖适应性综合领域和实验室研究方面的广泛专业知识，为在一系列时间和空间尺度上塑造适应性可塑性进化的条件提供新的理解。