Collaborative Research: Genetic Divergence and Life History in a Plant Population

尽管许多因素降低了一个物种内的遗传多样性，但大多数植物和动物的自然种群显示出很大的遗传变异性。植物和动物育种家，以及保护生物学家，经常试图在理想的品系内保持遗传多样性，因为这种多样性被认为可以减少因近亲繁殖萧条、疾病、寄生虫和新的环境挑战而灭绝的可能性。因此，了解遗传多样性是如何在自然种群中产生和维持的是保护生物学家的主要目标。该项目将重点研究空间异质性如何在单一植物种群中带来遗传多样性。由于坡向、融雪、水分蒸发或海拔等因素造成的微地理变异会迫使同一地点的植物在不同的时间开花，并对早开花和晚开花的个体造成不同的选择压力。群体遗传学理论认为，这些条件将导致高度遗传多样性的维持。在本研究系统中，融雪时间的变化给高山植物群落带来了不同的生长和开花时间。这种异质性的时间和空间组成部分如何维持高山毛茛种群的遗传变异将被确定。这项研究将深入了解在经济上有用的植物和动物品种以及受威胁种群中保持遗传多样性的因素。

Most natural populations of plants and animals display great genetic variability, even though many factors reduce genetic diversity within a species. Plant and animal breeders, as well as conservation biologists, often attempt to maintain genetic diversity within desirable lines, since such diversity is thought to reduce the possibility of extinction due to inbreeding depression, disease, parasites, and new environmental challenges. Understanding how genetic diversity is engendered and maintained in natural populations is therefore a major goal of conservation biologists. This project will focus on the ways in which spatial heterogeneity can bring about genetic diversification within a single plant population. Microgeographic variation due to slope aspect, snow melt, water evaporation, or elevation can force plants within a single site to flower at different times and can lead to different selective pressures on early and late flowering individuals. Population genetics theory suggests that these conditions will lead to the maintenance of high genetic diversity. In this study system, variation in snow melt schedule imposes variable growth and flowering schedules on the alpine plant community. How the temporal and spatial components of this heterogeneity maintain genetic variation within an alpine population of Ranunculus will be determined. This research will produce insight into factors that preserve genetic diversity in economically useful plant and animal breeds as well as in threatened populations.