Evolution of high latitude birds

DNA标记越来越广泛地用于研究动物种群。 遗传标记作为标签，使我们能够在很长一段时间内跟踪个人及其后代。 我将使用DNA标记来研究北美的山雀和啄木鸟种群，并研究历史运动如何导致我们今天看到的模式。 我的研究重点是在末次冰期期间，在无冰避难所中孤立的个人如何随着气候变暖而扩展到以前的冰川地区，以及他们的扩散如何受到障碍的影响。 通过了解这些鸟类是如何应对气候变化的，我们可以开始创建模型来预测未来对栖息地破碎化和全球变暖的反应。 此外，它将使我们能够确定如何有效的障碍，如落基山脉，是在阻止个人的运动。 如果屏障限制了屏障两侧种群之间的扩散，它们将彼此隔离。 在一段时间内，孤立的种群可能会产生新的物种。 确定这些障碍是什么，以及它们在限制人口之间流动方面的有效性将使我们更好地了解人口之间的联系。 我们从鸟类身上学到的信息，可以应用于在类似环境中发现的其他物种和具有类似特征的物种。

DNA markers are becoming more widely used to study animal populations. Genetic markers act as tags that allow us to track individuals and their descendents over a long period of time. I will use DNA markers to study North American populations of chickadees and woodpeckers and examine how historical movements led to the patterns that we see today. My research focuses on how individuals isolated in ice-free refugia during the last glaciation expanded into previously glaciated areas as the climate warmed, and how their dispersal was affected by barriers. By understanding how these species of birds were able to respond to the change in climate, we can start to create models predicting future responses to habitat fragmentation and global warming. In addition, it will allow us to determine how effective barriers, such as the Rocky Mountains, are in preventing individual movement. If the barriers restrict dispersal between populations on either side of the barrier, they will be isolated from one another. Over a period of time isolated populations may give rise to new species. Determining what these barriers are, and how effective they are at limiting the movements between populations will give us a better understanding of how populations are connected to each other. The information that we learn from birds, can be applied to other species found in similar environments and species with similar characteristics.