RAPID: How does hurricane-induced selection on predator behavior and morphology influence ecological recovery from hurricane disturbance?

飓风等极端天气事件可能对沿海生态系统造成破坏性影响。从这些事件中恢复的过程可能受到飓风驱动的栖息在这些生态系统中的物种的进化变化的影响。这些进化变化的影响可以通过与其他物种的相互作用通过食物网传播。该项目调查了顶级捕食者的进化变化如何影响受飓风多利安影响的沿海生态系统的恢复-这是一场历史上强大的风暴，于2019年9月1日袭击了巴哈马的阿巴科，最大持续风速为295公里/小时。该研究将加深我们对飓风对沿海生态系统的影响以及恢复速度和轨迹的理解。这项工作将提高我们预测极端天气事件影响和管理脆弱海岸线的能力。将通过与巴哈马一个非营利组织的合作，与当地社区分享成果。飓风预计将对捕食性棕色变色蜥蜴（Anolis sagrei）的形态和行为特征施加自然选择。反过来，我们预计这些特征的变化会改变棕色变色龙对节肢动物和植物的影响，在飓风多利安恢复的早期阶段。这些假设将通过以下方式进行评估：1）比较飓风前和飓风后的蜥蜴种群，以评估对棕色变色龙形态和行为特征的选择，以及2）使用复制的实验性棕色变色龙重新引入小岛屿。这些实验种群将在形态和行为特征上有所不同，并将用于调查飓风驱动的特征变化如何影响植被的恢复和节肢动物群落的重组。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

Extreme weather events such as hurricanes can have devastating impacts on coastal ecosystems. The process of recovery from these events is likely influenced by hurricane-driven evolutionary changes in the species that inhabit these ecosystems. The effects of these evolutionary changes can be propagated through food webs by interactions with other species. This project investigates how evolutionary change in top predators influences the recovery of coastal ecosystems affected by Hurricane Dorian – a historically powerful storm that hit Abaco, Bahamas on September 1, 2019 with maximum sustained winds of 295 km/hr. The research will deepen our understanding of both the impacts of hurricanes on coastal ecosystems and the pace and trajectory of recovery. This work will facilitate our ability to predict effects of extreme weather events and to manage vulnerable shorelines. Results will be shared with the local community through collaboration with a Bahamian non-profit organization. Hurricanes are expected to exert natural selection on both morphological and behavioral traits of the predatory brown anole lizard (Anolis sagrei). In turn, we expect shifts in these traits to alter the effect of brown anoles on arthropods and plants during the early stages of recovery from Hurricane Dorian. These hypotheses will be evaluated by: 1) comparing lizard populations pre- and post-hurricane to assess selection imposed on brown anole morphological and behavioral traits, and 2) using replicated experimental brown anole reintroductions to small islands. These experimental populations will differ in morphological and behavioral traits, and will be used to investigate how hurricane-driven trait changes influence the recovery of vegetation and the reassembly of arthropod communities.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.