DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Evolutionary dynamics of female polymorphism: an invasive damselfly model

雌性的颜色在许多动物物种中是高度可变的。是什么维持了这种多样性，它又如何告知我们对进化的一般理解？虽然理论表明性选择和自然选择都可能使女性的肤色多样化，但这些机制在女性进化中的作用尚未在单一研究系统中得到联合测试。入侵种群的豆娘，Ischnura ramburii提供了独特的机会，以缩小这一差距。频率I。兰布里雌性的体色自从夏威夷殖民化以来发生了巨大的变化。目前，频率？andromorph？视觉上与雄性相似的雌性与入侵种群密度和降雨量都相关。利用入侵地点内构建的实验性中型生态系统，研究人员将研究雄性-雌性相互作用和颜色变形性能（生存和繁殖力）如何受到变形频率，人口密度和非生物环境（降雨）的影响。结果将被用来确定社会和物理环境如何驱动女性的颜色进化，并确定促进女性多样性的条件。 除了确定维持自然界雌性变异的因素外，这项研究还将揭示入侵种群如何进化的新观点，提出减轻入侵的新策略。拟议的工作将为几名本科生提供独特的研究机会，研究结果将通过媒体与公众分享，并通过一系列非常成功的外联会谈，调查人员共同创立于2008年。

Female coloration is highly variable within many animal species. What maintains this diversity, and how can it inform our general understanding of evolution? While theory suggests that both sexual and natural selection might diversify female color, the role(s) of these mechanisms in female evolution have not been jointly tested within a single study system. Invasive populations of a damselfly, Ischnura ramburii provide unique opportunities to close this gap. Frequencies of I. ramburii female color morphs have changed dramatically since the colonization of Hawaii. Today, the frequencies of ?andromorph? females, which visually resemble males, are correlated with both invasive population densities and rainfall. Using experimental mesocosms constructed within invaded sites, the investigators will examine how male-female interactions and color morph performance (survival and fecundity) are influenced by morph frequency, by population density, and by the abiotic environment (rainfall). Outcomes will be used to determine how social and physical environments drive female color evolution, and to identify conditions that promote female diversity. In addition to identifying factors that maintain female variation in nature, the study will shed new light on how invasive populations evolve, suggesting novel strategies for mitigating invasions. Proposed work will provide unique research opportunities for several undergraduates, and findings will be shared with the public via the media, and through a series of highly successful outreach talks that the investigators co-founded in 2008.