EAGER: Developing methods for evolutionary studies in a long-term ecological experiment

进化变化可以迅速发生的证据，以应对环境条件的改变，要求进化过程被认为是即使是短期的生态变化的原因。该项目将开发所需的方法，以检查植物群落对营养供应和干扰变化的反应中遗传变异和适应的作用。该项目是基于一个长期的生态领域的操作;在营养供应和割草频率的变化引起的变化，在社区中的个别物种的丰度，存在的潜力选择影响健身的特点。通过开发测量遗传变化的方法，研究人员将扩大目前的实验，以解决两个主要的生态问题。第一，短期的生态变化会导致快速的进化反应吗？第二，物种内部和物种之间的遗传变异在决定群落多样性、组成和对环境变化的反应中起什么作用？这项研究既具有探索性，又具有风险性。本科生将开发分子标记物，而没有研究实验室的好处，这样的工作是例行的。目前还不清楚，即使是由生态条件变化引起的强选择，在个体之间的基因流动面前，是否会导致遗传分化，因此，该提案所依据的关键问题之一是风险。最后，遗传变异在多大程度上影响生态过程，特别是群落的聚集和多样性的维持，是相当未知的，增加了一个额外的风险，以拟议的研究。该项目延长了一个长-学期生态学实验，是为了加强对东卡罗莱纳大学本科生的生态学教育，并为学生提供在现实的空间和环境中进行生态学研究的真实经验，时间尺度该实验作为ECU生物课程的统一主题，目前提供生态学，野外方法，植物学，实验设计和统计学方面的培训。这项实验的拟议扩展将为本科生研究和额外的课程开发带来新的机会。学生将进行所有拟议的研究，以开发遗传标记和植物栽培方法。一个新的项目将扩大课程，包括一个本科人口遗传学实验室，使用长期实验作为研究框架。开发的方法将有助于未来的研究，扩展到长期的情节，以解决自然种群中的进化生态学问题。

Evidence that evolutionary change can occur rapidly in response to altered environmental conditions requires that evolutionary processes be considered as causes for even short-term ecological change. This project will develop the methods needed to examine the roles of genetic variation and adaptation in plant community responses to changes in nutrient supply and disturbance. The project is based on a long-term ecological field manipulation; as changes in nutrient supply and the frequency of mowing cause changes in the abundance of individual species in the community, the potential exists for selection on traits affecting fitness. By developing methods to measure genetic change, the researchers will expand the current experiment to address two major ecological questions. First, do short-term ecological changes drive rapid evolutionary responses? Second, what role does genetic variation within and among species play in determining community diversity, composition, and responses to environmental change? The proposed research is both exploratory and risky. Undergraduate students will develop molecular markers without the benefits of a research laboratory where such work is routine. It remains unclear whether even strong selection caused by changing ecological conditions can result in genetic divergence in the face of gene flow among individuals and thus, one of the key questions upon which the proposal is based is risky. Finally, the extent to which genetic variation influences ecological processes, and particularly community assembly and the maintenance of diversity, is quite unknown, adding an additional risk to the proposed study.The project extends a long-term ecological experiment that was initiated to enhance ecology education for undergraduates at Eastern Carolina University and to provide students with authentic experiences in ecological research conducted at realistic spatial and temporal scales. The experiment serves as a unifying theme in the ECU biology curriculum, currently providing training in ecology, field methods, botany, experimental design and statistics. The proposed expansion of this experiment will generate new opportunities for undergraduate research and additional curriculum development. Students will carry out all of the proposed research to develop genetic markers and plant cultivation methods. A new project will expand the curriculum to include an undergraduate population genetics laboratory, using the long-term experiment as a research framework. The methods developed will contribute to future studies that extend beyond the long-term plots to address questions in evolutionary ecology in natural populations.