RUI: Limits to the Effects of Contemporary Evolution on Communities

生态学家长期以来一直在研究物种之间的相互作用如何影响生物多样性。最近，他们也认识到，快速的当代进化可以改变这些物种的相互作用。这个项目超越了询问快速进化是否重要，而是询问何时重要。在某些群落中，如果不考虑正在进行的进化变化，就不可能理解生态学。然而，科学家们还不了解进化何时强烈影响物种相互作用以及何时可能被生态学家和保护生物学家合理忽视的潜在规则。该项目将调查可能限制快速进化对生态过程影响的两个因素：遗传多样性和扩散。首先，自然选择的进化需要一组不同的基因来起作用，但由于遗传多样性可能会随着时间的推移而改变，自然选择的影响也可能会改变。其次，个体在栖息地之间的移动可能会压倒自然选择清除那些不太适应特定栖息地的个体的能力。该研究旨在了解遗传多样性和扩散如何塑造当代进化和生态过程在塑造生物多样性方面的相对作用。这项研究的结果可以通过制定保护生物多样性和改善人类健康的战略来造福社会。此外，该研究将涉及一名拉丁裔博士后，支持西班牙裔服务机构的研究生和本科生，帮助K-5教室开展实践活动，并继续一个问科学家博客，科学家与K-12学生在农村地区配对。因为生态和进化过程之间的相互作用的研究将是困难的，时间-该项目利用大型植物和动物，以一个自然的小宇宙社区为模型系统，在实地和实验室检验关于遗传多样性和扩散的假设。肉食性猪笼草的叶子含有细菌、原生生物和昆虫的多样性组合，它们在生态上相互作用，但也具有非常短的世代时间和对不断变化的环境条件的快速进化反应。该项目将进行实验，创造对比选择环境，对应于年轻和老猪笼草叶片的条件：高捕食/低竞争与低捕食/高竞争，分别。每个实验都将操纵群落中原生生物的遗传多样性或当地群落之间的扩散程度。研究人员将使用一种新的数学方法来区分对群落多样性的生态影响和进化影响。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Ecologists have long investigated how species interacting with one another can influence biodiversity. Recently, they also have recognized that rapid, contemporary evolution can alter those species interactions. This project moves beyond asking if rapid evolution is important to asking when it is important. In some communities, it may be impossible to understand the ecology without accounting for ongoing evolutionary change. However, scientists do not yet understand the underlying rules that govern when evolution strongly influences species interactions and when it might be reasonably ignored by ecologists and conservation biologists. This project will investigate two factors that may limit the effects of rapid evolution on ecological processes: genetic diversity and dispersal. First, evolution by natural selection requires a diverse set of genes to act upon, but because genetic diversity may change over time, the influence of natural selection may also change. Second, the movement of individuals among habitats may overwhelm the ability of natural selection to purge individuals that are not well-adapted to a particular habitat. The research aims to understand how genetic diversity and dispersal shape the relative roles of contemporary evolution and ecological processes in shaping biodiversity. Results of this study could benefit society by resulting in strategies to conserve biodiversity and improve human health. Additionally, the study will involve a Latina postdoctoral associate, support graduate and undergraduate students at a Hispanic-serving institution, aid development of hands-on activities for K-5 classrooms, and continue an Ask the Scientist blog that pairs scientists with K-12 students in rural areas.Because studies of the interactions between ecological and evolutionary processes would be difficult and time-consuming to conduct using large plants and animals, this project uses a natural microcosm community as a model system to test hypotheses about genetic diversity and dispersal in the field and laboratory. The leaves of carnivorous pitcher plants contain a diverse assemblage of bacteria, protists, and insects that interact with each other ecologically, but also have very short generation times and rapid evolutionary responses to changing environmental conditions. This project will conduct experiments that create contrasting selection environments that correspond to the conditions in young and old pitcher plant leaves: high predation/low competition versus low predation/high competition, respectively. Each experiment will manipulate either the genetic diversity of protists in the community or the extent of dispersal among local communities. The researchers will then use a novel mathematical approach to distinguish ecological effects on community diversity from evolutionary effects.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.