REU: Effects of Seed Dispersal on Fitness in a Forest Shrub

一种关键的，但鲜为人知的，影响遗传的力量， 自然种群的结构是分散的。 对于大多数 生物体，一旦离开，就很难追踪个体 它的出生地，我们甚至很少知道什么因素， 将决定一个人是否能活下来， 成功复制。 跟踪一个分散的 在植物种子的情况下， 被食果动物吞食 几乎是 无法确定特定亲本的种子 因为动物经常吃很多水果， 从各种植物中提取，并可能在很长一段时间内排出 跨度。 这项研究旨在跟踪种子在北方的传播 美洲灌木，香料灌木（Lindera benzoin）， 通常的问题倒过来：种子的亲本植物在哪里？ 存放在已知的地点 种子生产亲本 一个给定的种子，可以通过匹配的模式， 基因决定的蛋白质 种子试验种植 将展示种子的幼苗存活有多重要 要存放在远离其他香料树幼苗的地方， 从最近的香料树成年，或在阴凉与阳光照射 条件 这些问题的答案将揭示种子是如何 扩散影响了该植物种群的遗传混合， 动物传播者在将种子传播到 对香料植物有益， 个体植物有利于高繁殖成功率。 这些基本 结果反过来可以用于管理计划， 孤立的植物种群，其中传播是人为的 限制。

A crucial, but poorly known, force affecting the genetic structure of natural populations is dispersal. For most organisms, it is difficult to trace an individual once it leaves its place of birth, and even more rarely do we know what factors will determine whether or not the individual survives or successfully reproduces. The problem of tracking a dispersing individual is especially difficult in the case of plant seeds which are swallowed by fruit-eating animals. It is virtually impossible to be sure where the seeds of a particular parent plant are deposited, because an animal often eats many fruits from a variety of plants and may defecate them over a long time span. This study is designed to track seed dispersal in a North American shrub, the spicebush (Lindera benzoin) by turning the usual question backwards: where are the parent plants of seeds that are deposited in known locations? The seed-producing parent of a given seed can be identified by matching up patterns of genetically-determined proteins. Experimental plantings of seeds will then show how important it is to seedling survival for seeds to be deposited far away from other spicebush seedlings, away from the nearest spicebush adult, or in shady versus sunlit conditions. The answers to these questions will reveal how seed dispersal affects the genetic mixing of this plant population, how effective animal dispersers are in depositing seeds in sites beneficial to spicebush plants, and what characteristics of individual plants favor high reproductive success. These basic results in turn can be used in management plans for preserving isolated plant populations in which dispersal is artificially restricted.