Collaborative Research: RUI: Ecological and evolutionary responses to environmental change in Sierra Nevada populations of a montane willow beetle

自然界中的生物以种群为单位生活，它们的数量可能保持稳定、增长、波动，或者灭绝。自然环境、天敌的存在、种群的遗传特性和个体适应环境的能力都会影响种群的规模和持久性。随着生态系统经历快速的气候变化，了解环境和遗传变异如何影响脆弱种群的持久性是当务之急。为了关注这一关键问题，将对加州内华达山脉极端气候条件下的本土柳树甲虫种群进行调查。研究了十多年的种群将使用遗传变异和环境适应标记来表征。种群规模的变化将与这些标记物、当地地形和由连续记录的气象记录器评估的气候条件有关。来自这些种群的历史样本，其中一些现在已经灭绝，将包括在这个分析中，提供了一个难得的机会来分析种群的变化，这些变化是过去环境的特征。量化繁殖、幼虫存活率和成虫越冬存活率的实验将评估不同遗传和环境背景下甲虫种群持久性的潜在机制。这些发现将为生物体应对和适应快速变化的环境的能力提供独特的见解，并将加强对遗传和环境变化对物种之间生态相互作用的影响的理解。该项目延续了一个独特的、长期的人口和气候数据集，因此将为了解全球气候变化对自然系统的影响提供实质性的贡献。最后，这个项目将支持和指导大量的本科生，包括传统上在环境生物学中代表性不足的群体，作为一个协作的跨学科团队在实验室和现场工作。

Organisms in nature live in populations that may remain stable, grow, fluctuate in size, or go extinct. The physical environment, the presence of natural enemies, the genetic properties of a population and the abilities of individuals to adapt to the environment all influence population size and persistence. As ecosystems experience rapid climate change, it is imperative to understand how environmental and genetic variation affects the persistence of vulnerable populations. To focus on this critical problem, populations of a native willow beetle experiencing extreme climatic conditions in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California will be investigated. Populations studied for over a decade will be characterized using markers of genetic variation and environmental adaptation. Changes in population size will be related to these markers, to local topography, and to climatic conditions assessed by continuously recording weather loggers. Historical samples from these populations, some of which are now extinct, will be included in this analysis, offering a rare opportunity to analyze changes in populations for which the past environment is characterized. Experiments quantifying reproduction, larval survival, and adult over-wintering survival will assess potential mechanisms contributing to population persistence for beetles of differing genetic and environmental backgrounds.Findings will provide unique insights into the ability of organisms to cope with and adapt to a rapidly changing environment, and will enhance understanding of the effects of genetic and environmental variation on ecological interactions among species. This project continues a unique, long-term population and climate dataset, and will thus provide a substantive contribution to knowledge of the effects of global climate change on natural systems. Finally, this program will support and mentor a large number of undergraduates, including groups traditionally underrepresented in environmental biology, working in the laboratory and field as a collaborative, interdisciplinary team.