The ecological determinants of adaptive diversity in macroevolutionary radiations

宏观进化辐射中适应性多样性的生态决定因素

• 批准号: RGPIN-2015-04334
• 负责人: Mahler, DLuke
• 金额: $ 2.26万
• 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: 2020
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2020-01-01 至 2021-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=708473
• 关键词: ecological; determinants; adaptive; diversity; macroevolutionary

A major unanswered question in evolutionary biology is how ecological conditions, which often change over very short time intervals, can result in evolutionary patterns that are stable for millions of years. This question is difficult to address because it is not possible to conduct controlled experiments on processes that occur over macroevolutionary timescales. In my research, I will overcome this problem through careful investigation of a natural macroevolutionary experiment: replicated evolutionary radiations of tropical lizards in both island and mainland habitats. Anole lizards (genus Anolis) have independently diversified many times over tens of millions of years in both similar and different ecological settings. By treating each of these radiations as an individual replicate in a grand macroevolutionary experiment, I am able to test a wide variety of hypotheses about how ecology shapes the evolution of large-scale biodiversity. For this work, my first objective will be to use genetic tools to reconstruct the phylogeny (i.e., the relationships and evolutionary history) of all ~400 species of anoles. My lab will then use this historical framework to test whether competing models of the macroevolutionary process can explain the resulting diversity of body forms that we observe in these lizards today. We will next focus on identifying the proximate factors that most influence macroevolution. Specifically, we will again use a phylogenetic framework to compare the relative importance of the geographic landscape versus the ecological community for generating adaptive diversity in organisms. For our final objective, we will investigate how the transport of exotic species by humans has altered fundamental diversity patterns in anoles, and we will seek to predict how, as a result of human activities, the future determinants of diversity will differ from those of the past. The goal of this research is to advance our understanding of ecology and evolution by addressing a longstanding, unanswered question in evolutionary theory. This project will also have applied benefits for biodiversity conservation. Our work on introduced species will provide a general predictive framework for identifying trade-associated threats to species, and will be of value to stewards of biodiversity in Canada and worldwide.

进化生物学中一个尚未解答的主要问题是，经常在很短的时间间隔内发生变化的生态条件如何导致数百万年来稳定的进化模式。这个问题很难解决，因为不可能对宏观进化时间尺度上发生的过程进行受控实验。在我的研究中，我将通过仔细调查一个自然的宏观进化实验来克服这个问题：在岛屿和大陆栖息地复制热带蜥蜴的进化辐射。在数千万年的时间里，在相似和不同的生态环境中，Anole蜥蜴（Anolis属）已经独立地多样化了许多次。通过将这些辐射中的每一个都视为宏观进化实验中的一个个体复制品，我能够测试各种各样的假设，这些假设是关于生态学如何塑造大规模生物多样性的进化的。 对于这项工作，我的第一个目标将是使用遗传工具来重建遗传学（即，的关系和进化历史）的所有~400种的变色龙。然后，我的实验室将使用这个历史框架来测试宏观进化过程的竞争模型是否可以解释我们今天在这些蜥蜴身上观察到的身体形式的多样性。接下来，我们将集中精力确定最影响宏观进化的近因。具体来说，我们将再次使用系统发育框架来比较地理景观与生态群落在生物体中产生适应性多样性的相对重要性。对于我们的最终目标，我们将调查如何运输外来物种的人类已经改变了基本的多样性模式在anoles，我们将寻求预测如何，作为人类活动的结果，未来的多样性的决定因素将不同于那些过去的。 这项研究的目标是通过解决进化理论中一个长期存在的未解问题来促进我们对生态学和进化的理解。该项目还将对生物多样性保护产生应用效益。我们在引进物种方面的工作将为确定与贸易有关的物种威胁提供一个一般性的预测框架，并将对加拿大和世界各地的生物多样性管理者具有价值。