Consequences of kin structure in benthic marine systems

在海洋系统中，幼虫的生产，传播和补充是重建枯竭的成年种群，促进物种地理范围的变化，并改变环境压力下的适应潜力的关键过程。传统上，人们认为，与海底相连的成虫的微小幼虫远离父母，彼此之间也远离，因此亲属之间的互动是不可能的。然而，新出现的证据正在挑战这一观点：幼虫的传播并不总是破坏定居点的亲属关系，海底无脊椎动物多样性的很大一部分包含大多数幼虫短距离传播的物种。有限的扩散增加了亲属之间相互作用的可能性，这对多代人的个体适应性产生了重要影响，从而提高了种群的生产力和适应潜力。但是，这些后果何时发生，以及它们究竟是如何表现出来的，在很大程度上仍然无法解释。现在的关键挑战是解释和预测亲属关系何时可能发生，何时可能产生积极或消极的生态后果。因此，本研究所要解决的关键问题是：1）亲属关系是如何以及何时产生和持续的，以及2）与亲属生活在一起对生存，成长和繁殖有什么影响。这种概念驱动的研究结合了基因组方法与实验方法，在实验室和现场设置使用实验听话和代表性的无脊椎动物物种。该项目为佛罗里达州立大学（FSU）的博士生和一名博士后学者提供培训和指导。现场和实验室活动的开发和纳入K-12教育计划和外展机会在FSU。亲属的空间接近性在生物组织的多个层次上具有根本性的重要后果。这些后果可能是特别重要的，在大范围的底栖海洋系统，竞争，促进和交配强烈依赖于邻近和邻居的数量。然而，解释和预测这种影响的发生、程度和方向仍然具有挑战性。新出现的证据表明，亲属结构的生态后果是不可能有一个直接的关系与扩散潜力。因此，至关重要的是要发现亲属结构何时发生的新原因以及为什么它会产生积极、消极或中性的生态后果。本研究的目的是提供一个新的理解如何扩散和定居后的过程中产生的空间亲属结构，人口密度和相关性如何影响定居后的健身，以及如何交配伙伴的相关性影响其后代（近亲繁殖和远系繁殖）的数量和健身。该研究结合了基因组方法，实验后代阵列以及田间和实验室环境中的操纵实验，以测试几种广泛适用于不同物种的假设。通过专注于实验上易于处理的物种来测试广泛适用的假设，该项目实现了在以前的工作中难以实现的普遍性和集成水平。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得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来支持。

In marine systems, the production, dispersal, and recruitment of larvae are crucial processes that rebuild depleted adult stocks, facilitate changes in species geographic ranges, and modify the potential for adaptation under environmental stress. Traditionally, the tiny larvae of bottom-associated adults were thought to disperse far from their parents and from each other, making interactions among kin improbable. However, emerging evidence is challenging this view: larval dispersal does not always disrupt kin associations at settlement, and a large fraction of invertebrate diversity on the seafloor contains species in which most larvae disperse short distances. Limited dispersal increases the potential for interactions among kin, which has important consequences for individual fitness across many generations, and therefore the productivity of populations and the potential for adaptation. But when these consequences occur, and how exactly they manifest, remains largely unexplained. The key challenge now is to explain and predict when kin associations are likely to occur, and when they are likely to have positive or negative ecological consequences. Therefore, the key questions addressed by this research are: 1) how and when do kin associations arise and persist, and 2) what are the consequences of living with kin for survival, growth, and reproduction. This concept-driven research combines genomic approaches with experimental approaches in lab and field settings using an experimentally-tractable and representative invertebrate species. The project trains and mentors PhD students and a postdoctoral scholar at Florida State University (FSU). Field and laboratory activities are developed and incorporated into K–12 education programs and outreach opportunities at FSU. The spatial proximity of relatives has fundamentally important consequences at multiple levels of biological organization. These consequences are likely to be particularly important in a large range of benthic marine systems, where competition, facilitation, and mating depend strongly on the proximity and number of neighbors. However, explaining and predicting the occurrence, magnitude, and direction of such effects remains challenging. Emerging evidence suggest that the ecological consequences of kin structure are unlikely to have a straight-forward relationship with dispersal potential. Therefore, it is crucial to discover new reasons for when kinship structure occurs and why it could have positive, negative, or neutral ecological consequences. This research aims to provide a new understanding of how dispersal and post-settlement processes generate spatial kin structure, how population density and relatedness influence post-settlement fitness, and how the relatedness of mating partners influences the number and fitness of their offspring (inbreeding and outbreeding). The research combines genomic approaches, experimental progeny arrays, and manipulative experiments in field and lab settings to test several hypotheses that are broadly applicable across species. By focusing on an experimentally tractable species to test broadly applicable hypotheses, the project achieves generality and a level of integration that has been difficult to achieve in previous work.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.