NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2017: Evolutionary patterns in sand-entrapment in plants and consequences for insect herbivores

本行动资助美国国家科学基金会2017年度生物学博士后研究奖学金，利用生物馆藏进行研究。该奖学金支持研究和培训将以创新的方式利用生物收集的研究员。具体来说，这一建议研究了一个经常被注意到，但实际上尚未被研究的现象：许多植物用粘性毛状体捕获沙子或其他基质。植物标本的沙捕获特性保存较好，但这种特性在植物中的分布和进化尚不清楚。被困住的沙子和灰尘对昆虫和哺乳动物的食草动物有负面影响，磨损它们的下颌骨和牙齿，这种基质的存在减少了植物的食草性。在这次实验中，研究员和本科生将利用植物标本馆、昆虫收藏和实验室实验来进一步探索这一有趣的现象。该奖项支持的研究有四个主要目标。(1)利用植物标本馆收集的植物标本和编制的沙漠和沙丘区植物区系，确定植物的截沙程度。(2)利用沙马鞭草（Abronia species）和常见害虫毛虫（Hyles lineata）的活体采集，确定植物是否在这种有效的物理防御与化学防御之间权衡。(3)确定泥沙淤积是否决定了哪些昆虫可以吃这些被沙覆盖的植物。最后，我们要确定以这些和其他沙质植物为食的昆虫是否进化出了与食草哺乳动物相似的“牙齿”形态——能够磨损它们的研磨表面。这些项目将由几名本科生助理进行，并将纳入小学到高中学生的课程。这些研究的结果将发表在同行评议的期刊上，并在科学会议和专题讨论会上发表。

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2017, Research Using Biological Collections. The fellowship supports research and training of the fellow that will utilize biological collections in innovative ways. Specifically, this proposal examines an often-noted, but virtually unstudied phenomenon: a great many plants entrap sand or other substrate with sticky trichomes. Sand entrapment traits are well-preserved in herbarium specimens, but the distribution and evolution of such traits in plants is poorly-known. Entrapped sand and dust have negative effects on insect and mammalian herbivores, wearing down their mandibles and teeth, and the presence of this substrate lessens herbivory on plants. During this experiment, the fellow and undergraduate researchers will use herbaria, insect collections, and laboratory experiments to further explore this interesting phenomenon. The research supported by this award has four primary goals. (1) To determine the extent of sand-entrapment across the plants, utilizing herbarium collections and compiled floras for desert and dune regions. (2) To determine whether plants trade-off this effective physical defense with chemical defenses, using a live collection of sand verbenas (Abronia species) and a common pest caterpillar (Hyles lineata). (3) To determine whether sand-entrapment dictates which insects can eat these sand-covered plants. Lastly [4] to determine whether insects feeding on these and other gritty plants have evolved similar "tooth" morphology to herbivorous mammals - the ability to wear down their grinding surfaces. These projects will be conducted with several undergraduate assistants, and will be incorporated into lessons for elementary through high school students. Results form the studies will be distributed in peer-reviewed journals and presented at scientific meetings and symposia.