CAREER: A role for local adaptation in shaping species coexistence mechanisms

生态学中的一个大问题是：“需要相同资源的物种如何避免彼此灭绝？”这个问题的答案将阐明为什么世界上有这么多不同的物种，以及我们如何防止它们的灭绝。这个项目以一种相对较新的方式探索这个问题：通过进化论的镜头。这项研究利用了昆虫模型研究系统--蜻蜓，这是一种与蜻蜓相似的五颜六色的天敌昆虫。研究人员不会假设一种豆娘蝇无论来自哪个湖都是一样的，而是试图证明来自不同湖泊的豆娘在它们的构建方式和需求方面是不同的，而且这些差异对来自同一湖的其他种类的豆娘有很大影响。该项目还将为本科生和研究生提供有意义的研究和教学机会。这位研究人员将对他的指导活动进行正式评估，以帮助理解科学家和教育工作者之间的差距是如何无意中造成的，以及我们可以做些什么来弥合这些差距。空间复制实验将评估不同群落之间相互竞争物种之间的适合度差异，这可能导致竞争排斥，以及防止排斥和有利于共存的稳定生态位差异。相互移植实验将确定局部适应是否以及如何影响适应性差异和/或稳定效果。使用独特的生物地理模式的其他实验将确定共存是否作为竞争对手共同进化以减少竞争的结果，或者竞争对手是否独立地适应了它们共同出现的生态位。实验研究的结果将与环境因素的测量相结合，以确定环境的哪些特征形状、适合性、差异和稳定性。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

A big question in ecology is: "How do species that need the same resources avoid driving each other to extinction?" The answer to that question will shed light on why the world is home to so many different species and how we might prevent their extinction. This project explores the question in a relatively new way: through the lens of evolution. The research makes use of an insect model study system - damselflies, which are colorful insect predators similar to dragonflies. Rather than assuming that a species of damselfly is the same no matter what lake it is from, the researcher will attempt to show that damselflies from different lakes are different in how they are built and what they need, and that those differences have big effects on other species of damselflies from the same lakes. The project will also provide meaningful research and teaching opportunities to both undergraduate and graduate students. The researcher will conduct a formal assessment of his mentoring activities to help understand how gaps between scientists and educators are unintentionally created and what we can do to bridge those gaps. Spatially replicated experiments will assess variation among damselfly communities in fitness differences between competing species, which could cause competitive exclusion, and the stabilizing niche differences that prevent exclusion and favor coexistence. Reciprocal transplant experiments will determine whether and how local adaptation affects fitness differences and/or stabilizing effects. Additional experiments using a unique biogeographic pattern will establish whether coexistence evolves as a consequence of competitors co-evolving to reduce competition, or whether competitors have adapted independently to ecological niches where they co-occur. Results from the experimental studies will be combined with measures of environmental factors to determine which features of the environment shape fitness differences and stabilization.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.