Dissertation Research: The Effects of Ecological Constraints on Polygyny in Argentine Ants

9976725 Palumbi生态约束假说提出，竞争和/或栖息地饱和促进进化的一夫多妻制（多个皇后）在殖民地的真社会性昆虫之间的巢伴侣低相关性。 为了验证这一假设，本研究将比较殖民地从三个领域的阿根廷蚂蚁，Linepithema humile：引进人口没有竞争，引进人口与主要竞争对手共存，和本地人口。 生态数据，包括巢的特点和密度的巢将在现场测量，并使用微卫星分析的蜂王数量和生殖偏斜的遗传变量进行测量。 比较三个种群的数据将揭示该物种的生态，社会结构和一夫多妻制的程度如何随着不同程度的生态约束而变化。这项研究的结果将扩大我们的传统观点的合作的进化过程中的亲属选择，通过探索如何合作可以发展之间的远亲个体。 确定像一夫多妻制这样重要的生活史特征是如何随着生态因素而变化的，是理解社会有机体适应环境的许多方式的第一步。 这项研究的意义超出了真社会性昆虫的范围。 通过将人口特征与社会的内部属性相关联，本研究测试了一些进化难题的近因和终极原因背后的潜在力量，这些难题包括复杂社会中的亲属冲突、生殖偏斜、社区繁殖以及社会生活本身的进化。

9976725 Palumbi The ecological constraints hypothesis proposes that competition and/or habitat saturation promotes the evolution of polygyny (multiple queens) in colonies of eusocial insects that have low relatedness between nest mates. To test this hypothesis, this study will compare colonies from three field populations of the Argentine ant, Linepithema humile: an introduced population with no competition, an introduced population coexisting with a major competitor, and a native population. Ecological data including nest characteristics and density of nests will be measured in the field, and the genetic variables of queen number and reproductive skew will be measured using microsatellite analysis. Comparing data from the three populations will reveal how the ecology, social structure, and degree of polygyny of this species changes with different levels of ecological constraint. The results of this study will expand our traditional view of the evolution of cooperation as a process of kin selection by exploring how cooperation can evolve between distantly related individuals. Determining how an important life history trait like polygyny varies with ecological factors is the first step to understanding the many ways social organisms may be able to adapt to their environment. The significance of this study reaches beyond the scope of eusocial insects. By relating demographic features with internal properties of societies, this study tests the underlying forces behind the proximate and ultimate causes of a number of evolutionary puzzles including kin conflict in complex societies, reproductive skew, communal breeding, and the evolution of social life itself.