Local adaptation and the evolution of plasticity under predator invasion and warming seas: consequences for individuals, populations, and communities

在过去的二十年里，缅因湾经历了前所未有的变暖，除了其他因素外，这进一步使这种入侵的青蟹能够在多岩石的海岸栖息地扩大活动范围。这种入侵的捕食者对生态的不利影响已经在世界范围内得到了记录。这项研究考察了两个常见猎物物种对这种捕食者和变暖的海洋温度组合做出反应的能力的地理差异如何影响猎物的摄食和性能，并影响群落结构和动态。因此，这项研究加强了对表型的进化、它们的可塑性、适应的性质及其在生态进化动力学中的作用的理解。更广泛地说，它有助于理解生物和海洋生物群落如何应对未来的环境变化。此外，该项目通过为初中生、高中生、本科生和研究生提供进化和群落生态学方面的跨学科培训，为STEM管道做出贡献。在与一个机构外展项目的合作中，研究人员还在这项研究的基础上开发基于网络的多媒体项目和教师资源材料。生态学的一个核心原则是，生活在食物链中间的物种必须在进食的好处和被捕食者吃掉的风险之间取得平衡。解决这种觅食-捕食风险的权衡往往涉及到猎物特征的可塑性，从而导致适应和物种相互作用的进化，从而推动社区一级的进程。因此，觅食-捕食风险权衡提供了一个强大的概念框架，将进化和群落生态学联系在一起。然而，与此同时，温度等其他环境压力因素可能会影响这种权衡，增加了复杂性，使人们很难预测生物体适应环境变化的能力及其对群落的影响。这位研究人员在缅因湾(GOM)的岩石海岸栖息地进行这项研究，那里长期受到强烈的纬度温度梯度和非本地物种入侵的影响。最重要的假设是，捕食风险和温度是影响可塑性和适应性地理差异的因素，对个人、种群和社区都有影响。首先，研究人员正在进行实地实验，以记录青蟹饮食中两个常见猎物物种的特征可塑性的地理差异。其次，他正在使用相互移植实验来检查特征对风险和水温的可塑性，产生数据，与90年代末进行的类似实验进行比较，当时海洋变暖，青蟹的范围扩大。第三，他正在进行一项实验室普通花园实验，以评估风险和水温对性状可塑性的影响。最后，他正在现场进行相互移植实验，以了解风险和水温对猎物觅食率和在潮间带群落结构和动态中发挥重要作用的物种丰富度的交互影响。这一奖项反映了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。

Over the past two decades, the Gulf of Maine has experienced unprecedented warming that, among other things, has further enabled the invasive green crab to expand its range in rocky shore habitats. The adverse ecological impacts of this invasive predator have been documented worldwide. This study examines how geographic variation in the capacity of two common prey species to respond to the combination of this predator and warming ocean temperatures can shape prey feeding and performance and impact community structure and dynamics. Hence, this research enhances understanding of the evolution of phenotypes, their plasticity, and the nature of adaptation and its role in eco-evolutionary dynamics. More broadly, it informs understanding of how organisms and marine communities may respond to future environmental change. In addition, this project makes contributions to the STEM pipeline by providing middle and high school, undergraduate, and graduate students with cross-disciplinary training in evolutionary and community ecology. In collaboration with an institutional outreach program, the investigator is also developing web-based multimedia projects and teacher resource materials based on this research.A central principle in ecology is that species residing in the middle of food chains must balance the benefits of eating with the risk of being eaten by their predators. Solving this foraging-predation risk trade-off often involves plasticity in prey traits with consequences for the evolution of adaptation and species interactions that drive community-level processes. Hence, the foraging-predation risk trade-off provides a powerful conceptual framework that links evolutionary and community ecology. Yet at the same time, other environmental stressors like temperature can shape this trade-off, adding complexity that makes it difficult to predict the capacity of organisms to adapt to environmental change and the consequences for communities. The investigator is conducting this study in rocky shore habitats of the Gulf of Maine (GOM) which have long been influenced by strong latitudinal temperature gradients and non-native species invasions. The overarching hypothesis is that predation risk and temperature are factors shaping geographic variation in plasticity and adaptation, with consequences for individuals, populations, and communities. First, the investigator is conducting field experiments to document geographic variation in the trait plasticity of two common prey species in the green crab’s diet. Second, he is using reciprocal transplant experiments to examine trait plasticity in response to risk and water temperature, generating data to compare with similar experiments conducted in the late 90s prior to recent ocean warming and expansion in range of green crabs. Third, he is conducting a laboratory common garden experiment to evaluate the effects of risk and water temperature on trait plasticity. Finally, he is using reciprocal transplant experiments in the field to understand the interactive effects of risk and water temperature on prey foraging rates and the abundance of a species that plays an important role in intertidal community structure and dynamics.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.