COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Assessing temperature-related changes in introgression of hybridizing species across time and space

全球气候变化正在改变物种的生存时间和地点，从而改变生物多样性的格局。在地理范围边界与相关物种杂交的物种可能会受到气候变化的新影响。 可能出现以下几种结果：两个物种的地理范围可以一致地移动，而杂交的变化很小，在杂交区共有的个体特征可以移动，而其他特征保持稳定，杂交可以随着物种的独立移动而分开，或者杂交模式和物种边界可以变化很小。研究人员将利用两种燕尾蝶来探索气候条件变化对杂交模式的影响。 这两个物种之间的接触区在过去进行了研究，研究人员将把历史数据与现代样本进行比较。他们将使用各种遗传特征来进行这种比较。此外，杂交实验将测试个体在冬季变暖、夏季高温胁迫和冬季极端寒冷条件下的表现，这些因素在最近发生了变化。这个项目很可能成为气候如何改变遗传多样性模式的一个例子。结合该项目，调查人员将为保护受气候变化影响的物种制定管理建议。此外，从事这个项目的学生将参加密歇根州立大学的“虫虫屋”，这是一个利用昆虫向K-8年级学生介绍科学概念的项目。最后，所有参与这个项目的研究生和博士后将在一个促进跨机构研究的维基上合作。

Global climate change is altering patterns of biodiversity by changing when and where species live. Species that hybridize with a related species at their geographic range boundary could be affected in new ways by climate change. Several outcomes are possible: the geographic range of both species could shift congruently with little change in hybridization, individual traits that are shared across the hybrid zone could shift while other traits remain stable, hybridization could fall apart as the species move independently, or there could be little change in hybridization patterns and species boundaries. The investigators will explore the effect of changing climatic conditions on hybridization patterns using two species of swallowtail butterfly. The zone of contact between these two species was studied in the past and the investigators will compare the historical data to modern samples. They will use a variety of genetic traits to make this comparison. In addition, experiments with hybrid crosses will test how individuals perform under winter warming, summer heat stress, and extreme winter cold, factors that have changed in the recent past. This project is likely to become an example of how climate modifies patterns of genetic diversity. In conjunction with this project, the investigators will develop management recommendations for the conservation of species affected by climate change. Furthermore, students working on this project will participate in MSU's 'Bug House', a program that uses insects to introduce K-8 grade students to scientific concepts. Finally, all of the graduate students and postdocs working on this project will collaborate on a wiki that facilitates cross-institutional research.