Character Displacement in Lizards as Revealed by Natural Selection Experiments

特征位移描述了一种生态模式，即竞争物种种群在不同生境中形态相似，而在同一生境中形态不同。很少有研究通过实验验证字符置换假说。该项目通过测量竞争相互作用中涉及的生态过程中产生的自然选择，对性状位移假说的预测进行了测试。研究人员将在自然环境中测量两种共存的蜥蜴体型的自然选择。移植实验将在这些物种的种群中进行，这些种群发生在相同和不同的栖息地。生态机制的测试，如猎物大小分布和微栖息地划分，将与移植实验相结合。了解自由放养动物的体型和生长速度等重要性状的遗传基础，对许多畜牧业项目都非常重要。这个项目将有助于我们了解自然种群中体型的遗传变异数量，以及这种变异是如何通过自然选择形成的。本项目的结果适用于涉及两个或两个以上物种的畜牧业项目，如水产养殖项目，或自由放养的驯化项目，在这些项目中可能会发生一些选择。

Character displacement describes an ecological pattern where populations of competing species, morphologically similar when occurring in separate habitats, diverge morphologically when occurring in the same habitat. Few studies have experimentally tested the character displacement hypothesis. This project provides a test of a prediction of the character displacement hypothesis by measuring natural selection arising from ecological processes involved in competitive interactions. The investigators will use natural arenas to measure natural selection on body size in two co-occurring lizard species. Transplant experiments will be performed that involve populations of these species that occur in the same and separate habitats. Tests of ecological mechanisms, such as prey size distributions and micro-habitat partitioning, will be integrated with the transplant experiments. Understanding the heritable basis of important traits like body size and growth rate in free-ranging animals is profoundly important for many husbandry programs. This project will contribute to our understanding of the amount of heritable variation in body size in natural populations and how this variation is shaped by natural selection. Results of this project are applicable to husbandry programs that involve two or more species such as aquaculture programs, or free-ranging domesticated programs where some selection might be expected to occur.