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

了解驱动和维持生物多样性的因素是当代生物学中的一个关键问题，特别是在物种面临快速气候变化、栖息地碎片化和其他挑战生存的环境变化的情况下。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--生物如何以及何时在不同的环境条件下改变特征表达。尽管面临环境挑战，但可塑性可能会增强种群的韧性；允许在比其他情况下更广泛的条件下生存，并为适应提供足够的时间。关于不同形式的可塑性的演化有许多假说，这些假说已经在植物和少数几个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，我们的理解受到了阻碍。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来提供理解上的重大飞跃，我过去的工作已经为这些假设定义了与可塑性相关的生态和社会背景，并证明了田间和实验室实验研究的可操作性。我和我的研究人员将使用两种性相残的黑寡妇蜘蛛(Latrodectus heperus，Latrodectus hasselti)和一种守护配偶的跳蛛(Phidippus Clarus)来询问导致进化适应或可塑性的环境变化的规模。这三个物种的地理范围都很广，都暴露在自然界不同的环境条件下，随着交配季节的进行，它们的选择也会发生局部变化。所有人都愿意在野外和实验室学习。此外，由于蜘蛛是陆地无脊椎动物的顶级捕食者，它们是陆地食物网的关键部分。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定假说。这项工作将分析表型差异如何影响不同纬度的物种在自然界中的适合度，验证我的预测，即这是由雄性的性别竞争以及雌性的自然选择的食物和避难所竞争所调节的。实验室研究与实地工作的洞察相联系，将量化(1)适应表型的克隆差异，以及(2)跨纬度梯度的可塑性程度是否由非生物条件与人口环境的本地变化来预测。在这项建议中，我利用我的实验室在生殖适合性的综合野外和实验室研究方面的广泛专业知识，提供对在一系列时间和空间尺度上塑造适应性可塑性演变的条件的新理解。

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.