LTREB: Population Biology and Ecology of Sonoran Desert Drosophila

居住在北美索诺兰沙漠的果蝇物种面临着一系列生态挑战。沙漠非常热。苍蝇用来喂养和繁殖的资源对许多生物都是有毒的。这些苍蝇能够在这样一个荒凉的地方繁衍生息，是因为它们在许多生物层面上的适应，从它们的代谢化学到交配行为。了解这些适应的本质对所有生物都具有广泛的意义，特别是在全球变暖和栖息地受到干扰的情况下。在这个为期5年的项目中，将开展的工作将探索这些昆虫的生态学和种群生物学的某些组成部分：它们抵御热应激的能力、它们的寿命、它们的非生物和生物环境的时空质量。

Fruit fly species residing in the Sonoran Desert of North America are faced with a suite of ecological challenges. The desert is extremely hot. The resources that the flies use to feed and breed are toxic to many organisms. These flies are able to flourish in such an inhospitable place because of adaptations at many biological levels, from their metabolic chemistry to their mating behaviors. Understanding the nature of these adaptations has broad implications for all organisms, especially under conditions of global warming and habitat disturbance. The work to be undertaken during this 5 year project will explore certain components of the ecology and population biology of these insects: their ability to withstand heat stress, their longevity, temporal and spatial qualities of their abiotic and biotic environments.