Dissertation Enhancement: Host-Parasite Evolution on the Galapagos Islands

这项美国-厄瓜多尔奖将支持密苏里大学圣路易斯分校的诺亚·k·怀特曼在帕特里夏·g·帕克博士的指导下进行的论文研究。他们的项目将加强密苏里大学圣路易斯市分校的科学家和学生之间现有的和不断增长的合作。厄瓜多尔的路易斯和查尔斯达尔文研究站和厄瓜多尔天主教大学。他们将调查加拉帕戈斯群岛鸟类的本地和引进的鸟类病原体，特别是加拉帕戈斯群岛鹰及其本地昆虫寄生虫的宿主-寄生虫进化。该项目具有保护意义，因为寄生虫是宿主种群的重要调节因子，而虱子和海马蝇都是禽类疾病的媒介。了解这个系统的基本生物学将有助于加拉帕戈斯国家公园的管理，该公园被联合国教科文组织列为世界遗产。厄瓜多尔人将接受必要的工具培训，以便在加拉帕戈斯群岛建立一个永久性的疾病监测方案。

This U.S.-Ecuador award will support the dissertation research of Noah K. Whiteman, University of Missouri, Saint Louis, under the direction of Dr. Patricia G. Parker. Their project will enhance an existing and growing collaboration among scientists and students from the University of Missouri-St. Louis and Charles Darwin Research Station in Ecuador and Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Ecuador. They will investigate native and introduced avian pathogens in Galapagos birds, specifically, host-parasite evolution in the Galapagos hawk and its native insectine parasites. This project has conservation implications because parasites are important regulators of host populations, and both lice and hippoboscid flies are avian disease vectors. Understanding the basic biology of this system will aid in the management of the Galapagos National Park, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Ecuadorians will be trained with the necessary tools for establishing a permanent disease-monitoring program in the Galapagos Islands.