RUI: Parallel Reproductive Isolation, Divergent Selection and the Origin of Stickleback Species

这个项目旨在通过研究三刺鱼的自然种群来检验一个关于发散选择在生殖隔离进化中的作用的新颖和独特的预测。与类似环境中的种群相比，物种形成过程早期的种群在不同环境中出现时应更具生殖隔离。拟议的研究计划的比较部分侧重于刺鱼的溪流居留种群和海洋种群是否一致分离和溪流有机污染物是否一致兼容，尽管它们的起源是独立的，关系是遥远的。将进行进一步的实验，以测试身体大小对交配模式的影响。这些研究将构成迄今为止与环境相关的平行生殖隔离的最明确测试，并可能导致迄今最有力的证据，证明分化选择在自然物种形成中的作用。

This project is designed to test a novel and unique prediction concerning the role of divergent selection in the evolution of reproductive isolation by studying natural populations of the threespine stickleback. Populations early in the speciation process should be more reproductively isolated when occuring in different environments compared to populations in similar environments. The comparative portion of the proposed research program focuses on whether stream-resident and marine populations of stickleback are consistently ioslated and stream opoulations consistently compatible, despite independ origins and distant relationships. Further experiments will be conducted to test the effect of body size on mating patterns. These investigations will constitute the most definitive test so far of parallel reproductive isolation in relation to environment, and lead potentially to the strongest evidence yet for the role of divergent selection in natural speciation.