Modularity and mating: the evolution and ecology of plant reproductive strategies

模块化生物体（例如植物，真菌，藻类）在生物量方面占主导地位，但我们对其生态和进化的理解远远落后于单一的多细胞生物体（例如大多数动物）。这里提出的研究将包括开发模块化生物体中的性适应性新模型，以及使用受控实验和自然种群研究对我们以前的建模工作进行测试预测。 陆地生态系统以长寿植物为主，其中大多数具有一定的克隆生长能力。然而，克隆性对性健康的影响知之甚少。这里提出的研究包括对我们以前开发的模型的确定性测试，以澄清克隆性对性健康的影响。我将训练HQP进行这些测试，通过测量交配成功率作为自然，实验和模拟种群中克隆的大小和空间排列的函数。 性选择是有性生殖生物的一个普遍特征，但将这一概念应用于植物却进展甚微。实验室开发的一种新方法有可能改变植物（和大多数模块化生物）自然种群中的性选择研究，但尚未经过彻底测试。拟议的研究将涉及在自然和实验人群中进行这些测试。支持我们的措施将为研究植物的性选择提供新的机会，并使我们能够与单一动物进行比较，因为我们有强有力的证据证明其具有深远的影响。 模块化，生活史和生殖系统的进化生殖策略影响基因传递，人口统计学和进化多样化的净速率。因此，理解繁殖策略的进化是解开达尔文“令人憎恶的谜团”的关键--开花植物的迅速多样化。以前，过于简单的性别进化模型产生的预测与我们以前的经验结果不符。为了解决这个问题，我们将开发进化稳定的策略模型，包括更现实的假设模块化生物的生活史权衡和实验测试模型预测，以检查这些权衡的后果，为不同性别的进化。 忽视模块性和迭代生长阻碍了对主导陆地生态系统的生物体（开花植物）的生态学和进化的理解。我实验室的主要研究重点是通过建模和实验来纠正这一点。这些努力为进一步研究提供了丰富的新方向，并为加拿大的STEM职业提供了高水平学生培训的成功记录。

Modular organisms (e.g. plants, fungi, algae) dominate the planet in terms of biomass but our understanding of their ecology and evolution lags far behind that of unitary, multicellular organisms (e.g. most animals). The research proposed here will include the development of new models of sexual fitness in modular organisms and test predictions from our previous modelling efforts using controlled experiments and studies of natural populations. Modularity and mating Terrestrial ecosystems are dominated by long-lived plants, most of which possess some capacity for clonal growth. However, the effects of clonality on sexual fitness are poorly understood. The research proposed here involves definitive tests of our previous models developed to clarify the effects of clonality on sexual fitness. I will train HQP to conduct these tests by measuring mating success as functions of the size and spatial arrangement of clones in natural, experimental, and simulated populations. Sexual selection in modular organisms Sexual selection is a widespread feature of sexually reproducing organisms but there has been little progress in applying the concept to plants. A new method developed in the lab has the potential to transform the study of sexual selection in natural populations of plants (and most modular organisms) but it has yet to be thoroughly tested. The proposed research will involve conducting these tests in natural and experimental populations. Support for our measure would open new opportunities for studying sexual selection in plants and enable comparisons with unitary animals for which we have strong evidence for far-reaching effects. Modularity, life-history, and the evolution of reproductive systems Reproductive strategies influence gene transmission, population demography, and net rates of evolutionary diversification. Understanding the evolution of reproductive strategies is therefore key to solving Darwin's "abominable mystery" - the rapid diversification of the flowering plants. Previous, over-simple models for the evolution of separate sexes yielded predictions that do not fit with our previous empirical results. To resolve this we will develop evolutionary-stable strategy models that include more realistic assumptions of life-history trade-offs in modular organisms and experimentally test model predictions to examine the consequences of these trade-offs for the evolution of separate sexes. Impact Ignoring modularity and iterative growth has impeded progress in understanding the ecology and evolution of the organisms that dominate terrestrial ecosystems the flowering plants. The major focus of research in my lab has been to rectify this using modelling and experimentation. These efforts have provided a wealth of new directions for further studies and a successful track record of high-level student training for STEM careers in Canada.