NSFDEB-NERC: Interspecific interference, character displacement and range expansion

为什么有些物种分布如此广泛，而另一些则局限于小范围？负面的相互作用，如侵略，与密切相关的物种可能会阻止一个物种扩大其范围。如果是这样的话，使一个物种能够避免负面相互作用的特征应该与范围扩张有关。这一预测将首次得到验证，使用一种分布广泛的鸟类，这种鸟类在翅膀颜色上表现出非凡的变化-以至于它曾经被认为是多个物种。深色翅膀的个体受到近亲物种的干扰要比浅色翅膀的个体低得多。该系统提供了一个无与伦比的机会，以促进了解物种之间的负面相互作用如何影响物种分布。随着物种的活动范围因气候变化而发生变化，一些物种将与它们以前从未遇到过的近亲相互作用。该项目的结果可以帮助预测这些相互作用的结果，从而预测未来的物种分布。该项目包括与英国研究人员的合作。并将为学生提供实地，实验室和计算研究培训。将启动一个现有公民科学倡议的西班牙语版本，以扩大与公众的接触。基于十多年来对红癍豆娘（Hetaerina spp.）生殖和侵略性干扰的进化原因和后果的研究，这个项目解决了减少种间干扰的适应性如何影响范围扩展的问题。其主要种为H.在不同的季节和地理位置，翅膀颜色不同。为了了解为什么该物种的翅膀颜色会随着季节性变化，将进行一系列现场实验以区分不同的进化权衡假设。为了区分季节性颜色变化的起源和损失的替代方案，将使用全基因组数据重建整个物种范围内种群之间的系统发育关系。为了进一步阐明季节性颜色变化是如何演变的，将多变量系统发育性状演变模型拟合到范围广泛的表型数据集。最后，为了检验范围扩展的预测，将使用合并模型来比较H。titia种群之间以及H. Titia和四种同系物。该项目还将产生第一个范围广泛的种内系统发育分析的一个多型性状的进化，和新的基因组资源的rubyspot豆娘。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得的支持，通过评估使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准。

Why are some species so widespread while others are restricted to small areas? Negative interactions, such as aggression, with closely-related species could prevent a species from expanding its range. If so, traits that enable a species to avoid negative interactions should be associated with range expansion. This prediction will be tested, for the first time, using a widespread species of dragonfly that shows extraordinary variation in wing coloration – so much so that it was once thought to be multiple species. Dark-winged individuals experience much lower levels of interference from closely-related species than do light-winged individuals. This system provides an unparalleled opportunity to advance understanding of how negative interactions between species affect species distributions. As species’ ranges shift in response to climate change, some species will interact with close relatives that they have not encountered previously. The results of this project could help predict the outcome of those interactions and, therefore, species distributions in the future. The project includes collaborations with researchers in the U.K. and Latin America and will provide field, lab and computational research training for students. A Spanish-language version of an existing citizen science initiative will be launched to expand engagement with the public.Building on well over a decade of research on the evolutionary causes and consequences of reproductive and aggressive interference in rubyspot damselflies (Hetaerina spp.), this project tackles the question of how adaptations that reduce interspecific interference affect range expansion. The focal species, H. titia, varies in wing coloration both seasonally and geographically. To understand why this species’ wing coloration changes seasonally, a series of field experiments will be carried out to distinguish among alternative evolutionary trade-off hypotheses. To distinguish among alternative scenarios for the origin and loss of the seasonal color change, phylogenetic relationships among populations throughout the species’ range will be reconstructed using whole-genome data. To further clarify how the seasonal color change evolved, multivariate phylogenetic trait evolution models will be fit to a range-wide phenotypic dataset. Finally, to test the range expansion prediction, coalescence models will be used to compare rates of diversification and historical demography among H. titia populations and between H. titia and four congeners. This project will also produce the first range-wide intraspecific phylogenetic analysis of the evolution of a polyphenic trait, and new genomic resources for rubyspot damselflies.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.