Collaborative Research: Dimensions: The role of taxonomic, functional, genetic, and landscape diversity in food web responses to a changing environment

拟议的研究将解决遗传，分类，生态和景观多样性如何影响捕食者对农业害虫的自然控制。 这项研究将集中在三种作物（玉米、苜蓿和大豆）和攻击它们的蚜虫物种上。 蚜虫通常被大约20种常见的捕食者控制。 由于这些捕食者经常在田野和其他栖息地之间移动，它们抑制蚜虫的能力取决于景观的多样性。 此外，蚜虫含有细菌共生体，使其昆虫宿主对高温具有耐受性。 因此，这些共生体使蚜虫有可能进化以应对全球变暖。 拟议的研究将使用遥感，田间实验和遗传分析，以了解生态和进化在维持蚜虫害虫的自然控制中的作用。玉米、苜蓿和大豆在美国大部分地区的农业景观中占主导地位，捕食者自然会抑制许多潜在的农业害虫。 气候变化或其他人为环境变化可能会破坏这种自然控制，导致美国农业面临更大的虫害问题。 了解生态和进化多样性如何赋予抵御环境变化的能力，可以确定潜在害虫问题的警告信号，并提供可能的解决方案。 拟议的工作不仅将解决这一基本和应用科学挑战，而且还将通过争取公民科学家的帮助来教育公众，这些科学家将在美国各地对蚜虫和捕食者进行采样，将动手科学带入公民的后院。

The proposed research will address how genetic, taxonomic, ecological, and landscape diversity affect the natural control of agricultural pests by predators. The study will focus on three crops (corn, alfalfa, and soybean) and the group of aphid species that attacks them. Aphids are normally kept in check by roughly 20 common predators. Because these predators move frequently among fields and other habitats, their ability to suppress aphids depends upon the diversity of the landscape. Furthermore, aphids contain bacterial symbionts that give their insect hosts tolerance to high temperatures. These symbionts thus make it possible for aphids to evolve in response to global warming. The proposed research will use remote sensing, field experiments, and genetic assays to understand the roles of ecology and evolution in maintaining the natural control of aphid pests. Corn, alfalfa, and soybean dominate the agricultural landscape of much of the USA, and predators naturally suppress many potential agricultural pests. A changing climate, or another anthropogenic environmental change, could break down this natural control, leading to greater pest problems for US agriculture. Understanding how ecological and evolutionary diversity confers resilience against environmental changes could identify warning signs of potential pest problems, and also provide possible solutions. The proposed work will not only address this basic and applied scientific challenge but will also educate the public by enlisting the help of citizen scientists who will sample aphids and predators across the USA, bringing hands-on science into citizen's backyards.