Unifying Models of Gene Flow at Multiple Scales in a Well-Studied Vertebrate

该项目将产生（1）联邦受威胁鸟类佛罗里达灌丛松鸦遗传种群结构的高分辨率画像和（2）遗传物质如何通过个体松鸦的传播在种群内和种群间移动的详细模型。两个独立的遗传标记系统（微卫星和单核苷酸多态性）将用于测量种群之间的遗传相似性和差异，使用从佛罗里达的3,000只个体鸟类中抽取的血液样本，并在康奈尔鸟类学实验室的DNA测序设施中进行分析。统计模型将预测任何两个种群之间的遗传分化水平的基础上，他们目前和历史的地理关系，和一个模拟模型将预测一个重点人口的遗传命运后，其隔离从其他population.Rapidly下降整个剩余的范围，佛罗里达灌丛周杰伦是深受公众喜爱的一个关键“伞”物种在一个不断缩小的生态系统。公共机构、土地管理者和保护组织都渴望从这个项目中得到结果，以帮助选择那些对物种的持续扩散和遗传健康至关重要的“栖息地岛屿”。这项研究对基础研究也具有独特的价值，因为它将是第一个整合基因流理论模型，扩散的实地测量，种群结构的定量估计和详细的景观模型。基因流动模型将被完善和测试，以应用于许多其他物种，包括那些不太容易研究的物种。

This project will produce (1) a high-resolution portrait of genetic population structure for a federally Threatened bird, the Florida Scrub Jay and (2) detailed models of how genetic material moves within and among populations via dispersal by individual jays. Two independent genetic marker systems (microsatellites and single-nucleotide polymorphisms) will be used to measure genetic similarities and differences among populations, using blood samples drawn from 3,000 individual birds across Florida and analyzed in the DNA-sequencing facilities at the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. Statistical models will predict the level of genetic divergence between any two populations based on their current and historic geographic relationships, and a simulation model will predict the genetic fate of a focal population following its isolation from other populations.Rapidly declining throughout its remaining range, the Florida Scrub-Jay is much-loved by the general public and a key "umbrella" species within a dwindling ecosystem. Public agencies, land managers, and conservation organizations are eager for results from this project to help select those "habitat islands" that are critical for continued dispersal and genetic health of the species. The study has unique value for basic research as well, for it will be the first to integrate theoretical models of gene flow, field measurements of dispersal, quantitative estimates of population structure, and a detailed landscape model. Gene flow models will be refined and tested for application to numerous other species, including those much less easily studied.