Dissertation Research: A Phylogenetic Perspective on Community Ecology and Ecological Diversification in Emydid Turtles.

DEB-0412793的非技术摘要本研究以猴科海龟为研究系统，研究了基本的生态和进化问题。这个家族包括许多熟悉的北美物种，如东部盒龟、红耳滑龟和彩龟。猕猴在生态上的多样性令人惊讶。这个科的物种适应于各种各样的栖息地，如池塘、河流和草原，并以文蛤、昆虫和水生植物等各种资源为生。由于翡翠鸟在生态上是如此多样，它们是一个理想的类群，可以用来询问物种生态特征的进化和自然群落生态模式的起源。所有这些研究问题都依赖于对现代埃米德物种进化关系的准确了解。我们将比较现代埃米迪德物种的核基因和线粒体基因的DNA序列，以检查这些物种之间的关系。这些知识将使我们能够解决对生态学和进化生物学领域具有广泛影响的问题。例如，在不同的大陆地区发生的时间与在每个地区发生的豆科物种的数量是否相关？据推测，在这个家族占据了很长一段时间的地区，会有时间让更多的物种进化。出现在不同地区的物种数量的差异通常被认为与不同群体在每个地区生活的时间长短有关，但很少有研究检验过这一假设。另一个研究问题是考察适应不同生境的物种(例如适应水生和陆地生境的物种)在行为能力(例如速度、耐力、游泳能力)方面的权衡演变。许多有影响力的理论认为，性能上的权衡必须发生在使用不同栖息地或使用不同资源的有机体中，但很少有研究试图衡量这种权衡或详细说明它们是如何进化的。除了解决生态学和进化生物学中具有广泛影响的问题外，这个项目还将为本科生和高中生提供许多机会，通过协助研究来学习科学和科学技术。学生将学习如何使用视频编辑和图像分析软件(用于从医学到艺术的各种领域)，如何从基因的特定区域分离和放大DNA(用于医学、法医学和几乎所有生物学领域的技术)，并将被鼓励设计和执行独立的研究项目(第一手学习形成和检验科学假设的过程)。

Non-technical abstract for DEB-0412793This research investigates fundamental ecological and evolutionary questions using turtles in the family Emydidae as the study system. This family includes many familiar North American species such as the eastern box turtle, the red eared slider, and the painted turtle. Emydids are amazingly ecologically varied. Species in this family are adapted for a wide variety of habitats such as ponds, rivers, and prairies, and subsist on resources as varied as clams, insects, and aquatic plants. Because emydids are so ecologically diverse, they are an ideal group in which to ask questions about the evolution of the ecological characteristics of species and the origins of ecological patterns in natural communities. All such research questions depend on an accurate knowledge of the evolutionary relationships of modern emydid species. We will compare DNA sequences from the nuclear and mitochondrial genes of modern emydid species to examine relationships among these species. This knowledge will allow us to address question with broad implications for the fields of ecology and evolutionary biology. For example, is the amount of time that emydids have occurred in different continental regions correlated with the number of emydid species that occur in each region? Presumably in a region that the family has occupied for a long period of time, there will have been time for more species to evolve. Differences in the number of species that occur in different regions often are thought to be related to the amount of time that various groups have lived in each region, yet few studies have ever tested this hypothesis. Another research question is to examine the evolution of tradeoffs in performance capacity (e.g., speed, endurance, swimming ability) of species adapted to different habitats (e.g., species adapted to aquatic versus terrestrial habitats). Many influential theories assume that tradeoffs in performance must occur in organisms that use different habitats or use different resources, but very few studies have ever tried to measure such tradeoffs or detail how they evolved. In addition to addressing questions with broad implications in ecology and evolutionary biology, this project will provide many opportunities for undergraduates and advanced high-school students to learn about science and scientific techniques by assisting in the research. Students will learn how to use video editing and image analysis software (which is used in a variety of fields from medicine to the arts), how to isolate and amplify DNA from specific regions of genes (techniques used in medicine, forensics, and nearly every field of biology), and will be encouraged to design and execute independent research projects (learning firsthand about the process of formulating and testing a scientific hypothesis).