Reproductive ecology of boreal fishes

有生命的有机体表现出各种各样的生殖策略。有些在一生中繁殖一次，有些繁殖多次；有些产生大量非常小的后代，而另一些只产生几个非常大的后代。了解这些生殖策略如何随着环境条件的变化而演变是生态学研究中的一个中心问题。我的研究将集中在后代数量和质量的特定繁殖特征上，我的研究生物体将是居住在加拿大北部盾牌地区的淡水鱼。在鱼类中，后代通过早期生命存活的可能性在很大程度上取决于它们母亲产下的卵的大小和组成。我的目标是量化这些野生鱼类的卵子数量和质量的变化，并测试当前理论中关于环境因素如何塑造这些特征的预测。这一目标将通过在我的指导下由研究生和本科生开展的一系列基于实地和实验室的研究项目来实现。这项研究的结果将进一步加深我们对鸡蛋品质变异的驱动机制，以及生活史特征的总体进化。结果还将证明有利于渔业管理和水产养殖。

Living organisms exhibit a wide variety of reproductive strategies. Some reproduce once in their lives, others reproduce many times; some produce large numbers of very small offspring whereas others produce only a few very large offspring. Understanding how these reproductive strategies evolve in response to changing environmental conditions is a central issue in ecological research. My research will focus on the particular reproductive traits of offspring quantity and quality, and my study organisms will be the freshwater fishes inhabiting the boreal shield region of Canada. In fishes, the probability that offspring will survive through early life is largely determined by the size and composition of egg produced by their mothers. My objective is to quantify variation in egg quantity and quality in these wild fishes, and test predictions from current theory on how environmental forces are shaping these traits. This objective will be met through a series of field- and laboratory-based research projects carried out by graduate and undergraduate students under my supervision. The results of this research will further our understanding of the mechanisms driving egg quality variation, and of the evolution of life history characteristics in general. The results will also prove beneficial to fisheries management and aquaculture.