NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2021: Diet and defense: characterizing the relationship between poison frogs and their tropical ant prey

该行动资助2021财年美国国家科学基金会生物学博士后研究奖学金，扩大生物学中代表性不足群体的参与。该奖学金支持研究员的研究和培训计划，该计划将增加在生物学中代表性不足的群体的参与。该研究项目将通过实地和实验室实验，重点研究热带毒蛙和它们的有毒蚂蚁猎物之间的关系。毒蛙以有毒昆虫为食来获得化学防御，与所有可用的蚂蚁相比，它们只消耗了一小部分蚂蚁，但人们对这些特定选择的方式和原因知之甚少。随着热带栖息地因人类改造和环境变化而消失，昆虫将继续减少。该项目将测试毒蛙的猎物选择，以确定它们饮食的特殊性，以及如果它们的蚂蚁猎物因目前全球昆虫减少而消失，它们可能面临的灭绝威胁的严重程度。该研究员还将通过与当地学校合作，提供进行青蛙研究的工具，以及与东道国的本科生和博士后研究人员进行指导、合作和支持，扩大历史上代表性不足的群体在生物学领域的参与。为了了解毒蛙猎物选择的特殊性和可能的行为驱动因素，研究员将结合南美的实地抽样和东道国机构的实验室实验，并将研究猎物的毒性或形态是否驱动了青蛙的猎物选择。野外捕获的毒蛙和蚂蚁猎物的化学特征将使用气相色谱法和质谱法进行表征，青蛙胃内容物将使用DNA条形码进行解剖和鉴定。将收集群落蚂蚁，将其饮食选择与总体蚂蚁可用性进行比较，并使用大小和颜色测量来量化蚂蚁的形态。宿主机构的青蛙群落将被用来测试猎物选择的行为驱动因素，包括大小和毒性，并测量觅食反应。该研究员将参与扩大历史上代表性不足的生物学学生的代表性，包括：1)与当地学生合作，将独立的青蛙研究带入K-12课堂；2)为具有交叉身份的本科生提供指导和学术资源；3)在主办机构招募博士后学者并与之合作。该研究员还将在东道国接受当前教学技术方面的培训，重点是包容性教学方法和编写课程材料。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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。

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2021, Broadening Participation of Groups Underrepresented in Biology. The Fellowship supports a research and training plan for the Fellow that will increase the participation of groups underrepresented in biology. The research project will focus on the relationship between tropical poison frogs and their toxic ant prey through both field-based and lab-based experiments. Poison frogs feed on toxic insects to obtain their chemical defense, consuming only a small subset of ants when compared to all those available, but little is known about how and why these specific choices are made. As tropical habitats disappear due to human modification and the changing environment, insects will continue to decline. The project will test poison frogs prey choice to determine the specificity of their diet, and the severity of the extinction threat they may face if their ant prey disappears due to the current global insect loss. The Fellow will also focus on broadening the participation of historically underrepresented groups in Biology by collaborating with local schools to provide tools to conduct frog research, as well as mentoring, collaborating with, and supporting undergraduate students and postdoctoral researchers at the host institution. To understand the specificity of poison frog prey selection and possible behavioral drivers, the Fellow will combine field sampling in South America and laboratory experiments at the host institution and will ask if prey toxicity or morphology drives frog prey selection. Chemical profiles from wild-caught poison frogs and ant prey will be characterized using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry, and frog stomach contents will be dissected and identified using DNA barcoding. Community ants will be collected to compare diet selection to overall ant availability, and morphology of ants will be quantified using size and coloration measurements. Frog colonies at the host institution will be employed to test behavioral drivers of prey selection, including size and toxicity, and measuring foraging response. The Fellow will participate in broadening the representation of historically underrepresented students in Biology by 1) partnering with local students to bring independent frog research into the K-12 classroom, 2) mentoring and providing academic resources to undergraduate students with intersectional identities, and 3) recruiting and collaborating with postdoctoral scholars at the host institution. The Fellow will also pursue training in current pedagogical techniques with a focus on inclusive teaching methods and developing course materials at the host institution.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.