Testing Ecological Mechansims of Adaptation in Red Squirrels.

理解进化变化的生态原因需要关键的生态因素不仅是可识别和可测量的，而且是可适应实验操作的。克卢恩红松鼠代表了一种自然的哺乳动物系统，它不仅可以记录行动中的进化，还可以测试驱动进化的特定生态因素的重要性。该项目的目的是通过模拟三个红松鼠种群的高食物条件，实验验证食物丰度控制幼鼠生长速度和春季繁殖时间的短期进化变化的假设。实验诱导的进化将证实食物作为影响红松鼠短期进化的关键因素的重要性。更广泛地说，这个项目将对生态学和当代野生生物进化之间的关键联系产生深刻的见解。Kluane红松鼠系统将继续为北方生态系统野外研究的研究生和本科生培训提供有价值的场所。最近开发了一个描述这个合作研究项目的互动网站（见http:///www.redsquirrel.msu.edu）。本网站既为对红松鼠感兴趣的教师、研究人员和儿童提供了可访问的资源，也为研究人员和公众提供了数据交换机制。

Understanding the ecological causes of evolutionary change requires that key ecological factors are not only identifiable and measurable but also amenable to experimental manipulations. Kluane red squirrels represent a natural mammalian system, for which it is possible to not only document evolution in action, but also to test the importance of specific ecological factors in driving that evolution. The goal of this project is to experimentally test the hypothesis that food abundance controls short-term evolutionary changes in juvenile growth rates and the timing of spring breeding by mimicking high food conditions in three populations of red squirrels. Experimentally induced evolution would confirm the importance of food as a key factor affecting short-term evolution in red squirrels. More broadly, this project will generate insights into the crucial linkages between ecology and contemporary evolution in the wild. The Kluane red squirrel system will continue to provide a valuable venue for graduate and undergraduate training in field research in northern ecosystems. An interactive website that describes this collaborative research project (see http:///www.redsquirrel.msu.edu) has recently been developed. This website provides both an accessible resource for teachers, researchers and children interested in red squirrels as well as a mechanism for data exchange among researchers and the general public.