Using molecular data to test connectivity and the circumpolar paradigm for Antarctic marine invertebrates

南极半岛西部正在迅速变暖，热状况的持续变化可能会给海洋动物带来严重后果，包括适应能力强的恒温动物可能灭绝，以及邻近动物的入侵。气候变化的最初影响可能会导致同一物种种群之间的连通性发生变化。这些变化可能无法通过直接观察发现，但可以通过遗传连通性进行评估，即群体间等位基因或单倍型频率的差异可以用来推断基因流的水平。这项拟议的研究将探索斯科舍弧线在连接南美和南极洲人口方面所起的作用，这条走廊被认为是入侵者进入南极洲的一条可能的通道。它还将研究神秘物种可能会混淆我们对大范围分布的知识的方式，并通过这样做，为理解生物多样性和测试南极洲的环极范例做出贡献。首席调查员将从来自多个地点的广泛的海底海洋无脊椎动物门收集跨物种的多基因座遗传数据，以解决关于物种形成和连通性的假设，估计人口种群变化，并确定驱动所观察到的系统地理模式的潜在过程。比较系统地理学是一种特别有价值的方法，因为它能够确定物种群体共有的长期障碍和避难所，因此与保护规划高度相关。此外，这项工作将为检测未来的连接变化提供有价值的基准。研究结果将通过同行评议的出版物和在会议上的介绍予以传播。此外，该项目将支持一名女研究生和两名本科生的跨学科培训，并通过SIO的STAR计划接待更多的暑期学生，该计划帮助少数族裔学生为研究生做准备。该项目将通过举办一个将地球科学和生物学高中教师聚集在一起的跨学科讲习班，将研究和教育结合起来。该研讨会旨在帮助教师将板块构造学、海洋历史和进化论结合起来，以支持一个新的高中地球科学计划。该项目产生的信息还将直接提供给在南极洲设计一系列海洋保护区的国际努力。

The west Antarctic Peninsula is warming rapidly, and continuing changes in the thermal regime will likely result in severe consequences for marine fauna, including potential extinction of strongly adapted stenotherms, and invasions from neighboring faunas. Initial impacts of climate change may result in changes in connectivity among populations of the same species. These changes may will be undetectable by direct observation, but may be assessed via genetic connectivity, i.e. differences in allele or haplotype frequencies among populations can be used to infer levels of gene flow. The proposed research will explore the role that the Scotia Arc plays in connecting populations from South America to Antarctica, a corridor identified as a likely entry route for invaders into Antarctica. It also will examine the way in which cryptic species may confound our knowledge of broad-scale distributions, and in doing so, make contributions towards understanding biodiversity and testing the paradigm of circumpolarity in Antarctica. The principal investigator will to collect multi-locus genetic data across 'species' from a broad suite of benthic marine invertebrate phyla, from multiple locations, in order to address hypotheses regarding speciation and connectivity, to estimate demographic population changes, and to identify the underlying processes that drive observed phylogeographic patterns. Comparative phylogeography is a particularly valuable approach because it enables the identification of long-term barriers and refugia common to groups of species and is consequently highly relevant to conservation planning. Moreover, this work will form a valuable baseline for detecting future changes in connectivity. The results of the research will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications and presentations at conferences. In addition, the project will support the interdisciplinary training of a female graduate student, two undergraduate students, and host additional summer students through the STARS program at SIO, which helps minority students prepare for graduate school. This project will integrate research and education through conducting an interdisciplinary workshop that brings together Earth Science and Biology high school teachers. This workshop aims to assist teachers derive their own curricula uniting plate tectonics, ocean history and evolution, supporting a new high school earth sciences program. Information generated by this project will also directly feed into international efforts to design a series of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in Antarctica.