IRFP: Eco-Evolutionary Dynamics of Allee Effects and their Mitigating Adaptations

国际研究奖学金计划使美国科学家和工程师能够在国外进行9至24个月的研究。该计划的奖项提供了联合研究的机会，以及使用国外独特或互补的设施，专业知识和实验条件。该奖项将支持艾利森·K博士为期24个月的研究奖学金。Shaw与澳大利亚国立大学（堪培拉，澳大利亚）的Hanna Kokko博士和伍兹霍尔海洋研究所（马萨诸塞州）的Michael Neubert博士合作。阿利效应描述了个体的适应性与其同种物种数量之间的正相关关系，最常见的例子是个体在更高的人口密度下找到配偶的机会增加。这可能是诱人的预测，任何适应，允许一个人克服阿利效应应该被选中，因为阿利效应负面影响个人的健身在低密度。然而，如果低密度时期在物种的进化史上是罕见的，情况可能就不是这样了。此外，某些类型的适应（包括扩散）实际上可能会加剧被人为减少到低密度的种群的Allee效应。在我们能够预测低密度种群的动态之前，我们需要对Allee效应及其缓解适应性如何相互作用有一个坚实的理解。本研究的两个主要目标是：1）在生态进化背景下建立一个整合Allee效应和反适应的理论框架; 2）将研究结果应用于预测入侵物种的具体例子中的动态。拟议的研究将从根本上帮助我们理解低密度种群的动态。该技术在入侵害虫的控制、渔业管理和濒危物种保护等方面具有潜在的应用价值。这项研究还将促进PI与澳大利亚国立大学、澳大利亚其他机构和伍兹霍尔海洋研究所的研究小组之间的宝贵国际合作。

The International Research Fellowship Program enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct nine to twenty-four months of research abroad. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions abroad. This award will support a twenty-four-month research fellowship by Dr. Allison K. Shaw to work with Dr. Hanna Kokko at the Australian National University (Canberra, Australia) and with Dr. Michael Neubert at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (Massachusetts). An Allee effect describes a positive relationship between an individual's fitness and the number of its conspecifics, the most common example being an individual's increased chance of finding mates at higher population density. It may be tempting to predict that any adaptation that allows an individual to overcome an Allee effect should have been selected for, since Allee effects negatively impact an individual's fitness at low density. However, this may not be the case if periods of low density were rare during a species' evolutionary history. Furthermore, some types of adaptations (including dispersal) may actually exacerbate Allee effects in a population that has been artificially reduced to a low density. Before we can predict the dynamics of low-density populations, we need to develop a solid understanding of how Allee effects and their mitigating adaptations interact. The two broad objectives of this research are 1) to build a theoretical framework integrating Allee effects and counter adaptations in an eco-evolutionary context, and 2) to apply the findings to predict dynamics in the specific example of invasive species.The proposed research will contribute fundamentally to our understanding of the dynamics governing populations at low density, which has potential applications in the control of invasive pest species, management of fisheries, and protection of endangered species. This research will also foster valuable international collaboration between the PI and research groups at the Australian National University, other institutions within Australia, and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.