DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Ecological Structure and Evolutionary Formation of Interspecific Interaction Networks

共同进化生物学和群落生态学目前面临的一个挑战是了解相互作用的物种网络如何在不同的环境中以不同的方式进化。这一挑战的重要性日益增加，因为世界各地许多生态系统的物种组成正在迅速变化。我们需要了解在不同的生态条件下，物种网络之间的相互作用会在多大程度上发生变化，以及这些变化是如何通过谱系的系统发育历史在遗传上构建起来的。拟议的工作将评估相互作用的植物和昆虫的网络如何随着种群的进化和分化而在地理景观中的结构上有所不同。这项工作将集中在一个具体的问题，如何四个物种网络的两个密切相关的植物物种和两个密切相关的蛾物种在遗传和生态上不同的四个环境中在加州。目的一是研究灰蛾和灰蛾对小菜蛾的危害。沿着加州海岸山脉，黑腹石首草科（Prodoxididae）对林星Lithophragma parviflorum和L.异叶虎耳草（虎耳草科）。目标2将评估蛾类利用这两种植物的栖息地差异是否由遗传或当地生态条件决定。目标3将使用分子标记来评估某些生境之间网络结构的相似性是否源于这些种群共有的系统发育历史。总的来说，拟议工作中生态学和分子方法的整合将直接评估谱系的多样性和当地生态条件如何共同促成生物群落组织的地理差异。 这项研究也将有助于培养本科生在科学研究的各个方面。 本科生将获得分子，温室和现场技能，同时学习实验设计，数据分析和手稿准备。 这项工作的结果将在国家会议上提出。

A current challenge in coevolutionary biology and community ecology is to understand how networks of interacting species evolve in different ways in different environments. The importance of this challenge is increasing, as the species composition of many ecosystems is rapidly changing worldwide. We need to understand the extent to which the interactions between networks of species can change under different ecological conditions and how those changes may be structured genetically by the phylogenetic history of lineages. The proposed work will evaluate how networks of interacting plants and insects differ in structure across geographic landscapes as populations evolve and diverge. The work will focus on the specific problem of how a four-species network of two closely-related plant species and two closely-related moth species differ genetically and ecologically in four environments in California. Objective 1 will evaluate how the moths Greya politella and G. obscura (Prodoxidae) differ along the Coast Ranges of California in their use of the woodland stars, Lithophragma parviflorum and L. heterophyllum (Saxifragaceae). Objective 2 will evaluate whether differences among habitats in how moths use these two plant species are determined genetically or by local ecological conditions. Objective 3 will use molecular markers to assess whether similarity in network structure among some habitats results from the shared phylogenetic history of those populations.Overall, the integration of ecological and molecular approaches in the proposed work will provide a direct evaluation of how the diversification of lineages and local ecological conditions collectively contribute to geographic differences in the organization of biological communities. This research will also aid in training undergraduate students in all aspects of scientific research. Undergraduate students will gain molecular, greenhouse, and field skills while learning about experimental design, data analysis, and manuscript preparation. Results of this work will be presented at national meetings.