Geographic Mosaics in Diversifying Plant-Insect Interactions

该奖项的工作将评估共同进化过程如何在大地理范围内塑造昆虫和植物之间的相互作用。植物与它们的食草动物和传粉者之间的许多相互作用发生在多个生态区域。这些相互作用在不同的地区以不同的方式演变，但它们通过个体在种群中的移动而联系在一起。该奖项的目的是了解这些相互作用的大规模结构是如何在这种共同进化的地理马赛克中发展起来的。这些结果将有助于我们理解生物多样性是如何在大的地理范围内组织起来的，以及物种之间的互动如何在不断变化的世界中持续存在。因此，研究结果将有助于我们理解如何通过区域和大陆规模的努力最好地保护地球的生物多样性。研究将使用灰飞蛾及其主要寄主植物细花石杉。这些物种的范围从美国落基山脉到沿海的加利福尼亚州。这是北美西部植物和昆虫之间分布最广泛的相互作用之一。从过去的工作中已经知道，物种的特征，它们之间相互作用的生态结果，以及种群的遗传结构在地区上是不同的。该物种也可以很容易地在田间、实验室和温室中操纵。因此，这种相互作用为分析共同进化的地理镶嵌提供了一个有用的模型。

Work on this award will evaluate how the process of coevolution shapes interactions between insects and plants over large geographic scales. Many interactions between plants and their herbivores and pollinators occur across multiple ecoregions. These interactions evolve in different ways in different regions, but they are connected by movement of individuals among populations. The purpose of this award is to understand how the large-scale structure of these interactions develops amid this geographic mosaic of coevolution. The results will contribute to our understanding of how biodiversity is organized over large geographic scales, and how interactions between species may persist in a constantly changing world. The results will therefore contribute to our understanding of how best to conserve the earth's biodiversity through efforts at regional and continental scales.The research will use the moth Greya politella and its major hostplant Lithophragma parviflorum. These species range from the U.S. Rockies to coastal California. This is one of the most widely-distributed interactions between plants and insects in western North America. The traits of the species, the ecological outcomes of the interaction between them, and the genetic structure of the populations are already known from past work to vary regionally. The species can also be easily manipulated in the field, laboratory, and greenhouse. This interaction therefore provides a useful model for analyses of the geographic mosaic of coevolution.