An Experiment in Evolution: Rapid Life History Evolution in Drosophila Subobscura

9629822雷蒙德·休伊和乔治·W·吉尔克里斯特的人类活动导致引入新区域的物种数量惊人地增加。引进物种的进化变化很少受到关注，尽管这种变化可能会影响引进物种的持久性和影响力。果蝇为研究适应新环境的进化速率提供了机会。本种在欧洲广泛分布。70年代末，S意外地将其引入了北美和南美。它迅速在气候迥异的广阔地理区域定居，现在是一些地区最常见的果蝇。这个项目将调查温度，一个关键的气候因素，如何影响来自欧洲不同气候种群的苍蝇的适合度，这是进化的“基线”，以及来自北美类似种群的苍蝇。北美种群相对于欧洲种群的分化程度将表明引入的昆虫是否能够在自然界中快速进化。这个项目对于了解是什么限制了引进有害生物的分布、传播和持久性，以及了解引进物种对当地物种和生态系统的影响是重要的。

9629822 Raymond B. Huey and George W. Gilchrist Human activities have led to an alarming increase in the number of species introduced into new areas. Evolutionary changes in introduced species have received little attention, although such changes may influence the persistence and impact of introduced species. The fly Drosophila subobscura provides an opportunity for studying evolutionary rates in response to new environments. This species is broadly distributed in Europe. In the late 70's it was accidentally introduced into both North and South America. It rapidly colonized broad geographic areas with very different climates, and is now the most common Drosophila in some areas. This project will investigate how temperature, a key climate factor, influences the fitness of flies from climatically distinct populations in Europe, the evolutionary "baseline", and from similar ones in North America. The amount of differentiation among the North American populations, relative to the European ones, will indicate whether introduced insects may be able to evolve rapidly in nature. This project is important for understanding what limits the distribution, spread, and persistence of introduced pests, as well as understanding the effects of introduced species on native species and ecosystems.