Population Genetics of Species Delimitation: Methodology & Application of a Unified Approach to Inferring Species Boundaries

DNA用于推断物种边界提供了巨大的希望。然而，当前方法的局限性构成了严重的障碍。这类推论的准确性可能会受到质疑，因为确定物种身份往往取决于所使用的数据类型。这个项目将应用种群遗传学中最新的理论和方法进展来确定物种的界限。将利用加勒比蟋蟀属Amphiacusta探索种群遗传模型和替代抽样设计如何在不同类型的数据和种群之间存在不同分歧率的情况下提高推断物种边界的准确性。该项目开发的方法将使用于物种划定的各种方法的抽样设计得到改进，包括用于保护生物学和DNA条形码倡议的方法。这些分析的结果还将提出关于如何将遗传数据(包括来自多个基因座的数据)与其他数据类型结合起来，以产生识别物种的统一方法的建议。这些工具将用于广泛的分类群，鉴于物种及其划界在生物学和整个社会中发挥的核心作用，预计将影响许多学科的横截面。

The use of DNA for inferring species boundaries offers great promise. However, limitations with the current methodologies pose serious obstacles. The accuracy of such inferences can be questionable because determining a species identity often depends on the type of data used. This project will apply recent theoretical and methodological advances developed in population genetics to determine species limits. The Caribbean cricket genus Amphiacusta will be used to explore ways in which population genetic models and alternative sampling designs can improve the accuracy of inferred species boundaries when different types of data and different rates of divergence exist among populations.The methods developed by the project will enable improved sampling design for a diversity of approaches used in species delimitation, including those applied in conservation biology and DNA-barcoding initiatives. The results of these analyses will also produce recommendations about how genetic data, including data from multiple loci, can be combined with other data types to produce a unified approach for recognizing species. These tools will be of use for a wide range of taxa, and are expected to impact a large cross-section of disciplines given the central role that species, and their delimitation, play in biology and society at large.