REPRODUCTIVE ISOLATION WITHIN SPECIES AS A CONSEQUENCE OF GEOGRAPHIC VARIATION IN COMMUNITY INTERACTIONS IN CHORUS FROGS

生殖互动构成了一种潜在的强大力量，推动了交配行为的进化，特别是当物种与不同地理位置的其他物种的不同组合相互作用时。理论预测，如果构成当地群落的各种物种在特定物种的范围内有所不同，那么该物种的不同种群可能会面临进化出不同交配行为的压力。这种多样化的选择可能导致一个物种内的种群迅速分化，因为雄性在种群中进化出不同的信号，而雌性则进化出对局部信号的偏好。该项目的目的是确定构成当地群落的物种的地理变异是否导致特定的青蛙物种通过生殖性状的直接选择进化成多个不同的物种。这项工作将通过整合行为实验、遗传数据和整个研究物种分布的生态研究来完成。该研究首次对理论预测进行了实证检验，即不同物种之间的生殖相互作用可以导致特定物种内部的多样化。这种现象是一种隐晦但可能广泛存在的物种形成机制。该项目支持培养生物领域和技术多样性的博士后研究员、研究生和本科生。这项工作的两个重要组成部分是针对在家学习的学生的生物学推广计划和监测当地两栖动物种群健康的公共推广计划。

Reproductive interactions constitute a potentially powerful force driving the evolution of mating behaviors, particularly when species interact with different combinations of other species across geography. Theory predicts that if the various species that constitute the local community vary across the range of a particular species, different populations of that species may experience pressure to evolve different mating behaviors. This diversifying selection may cause the rapid divergence of populations within a species as males evolve different signals across populations and females evolve preferences for local signals. The purpose of this project is to determine whether geographic variation in the species that constitute the local community has caused a particular frog species to evolve into multiple distinct species through direct selection on reproductive traits. This work will be accomplished by integrating behavioral experiments, genetic data, and ecological studies throughout the distribution of the study species.This research represents one of the first empirical tests of theoretical predictions that reproductive interactions among different species can cause diversification within a particular species. This phenomenon is a cryptic but potentially widespread mechanism of speciation. The project supports the training of a postdoctoral researcher, graduate students, and undergraduate students in a diversity of biological fields and technologies. Two important components of this work are a biology outreach program to home-schooled students and a public outreach program to monitor the health of local amphibian populations.