Ecological Genetics of Plant Adaptations to Novel Environments

人类世的特点是对全球生物多样性的几个日益增长的威胁，包括气候变化、大规模生境改变以及物种跨越主要扩散障碍(如海洋、山脉、沙漠)的长途转移。在这些新环境中的进化可以防止物种灭绝，并最终促进范围的扩大，但在暴露在新环境中的自然种群中，当代进化及其对生态动态的影响很少被研究。我的长期研究目标是了解当代进化是如何以及为什么发生在新的环境中，以及这如何影响生态动态。入侵物种威胁人类的健康和福利，但也是当代进化中的自然实验。我的短期研究计划集中在加拿大两种侵袭性最强的杂草--紫松草(Lyhorum Salicaria)和大蒜芥菜(Alliaria Fololata)。在过去的10多年里，我开发了这些实验系统，我将用它们来测试自然选择的变化，适应性分化，以及相对于原生范围(欧洲)在北美的个人健康和种群水平表现的提高。这些是入侵生物学中许多极具影响力的假说的关键预测，事实证明，这些假说很难用进化生态学中的传统方法进行检验。我提出了一种新的方法，将下一代测序的尖端进展与协调的、分散的现场研究相结合，从欧洲和北美数百个地点的数千个人那里收集现场数据和遗传资源。使用这种方法，我将调查当地适应和入侵历史对种群遗传结构的影响，并对这些过程进行控制，以便对欧洲和北美之间的自然选择、进化和表现进行有意义的比较。拟议的研究为1名PDF、3名博士、2名理学硕士和13名理科硕士学生提供了一些位于现代基因组学、计算生物学和田间生态学交界处的尖端技术的培训机会。对入侵物种的研究通常会引起猎人和垂钓者、野生动物爱好者、博物学家、园丁、观鸟者、生态游客、牧场主、农民等许多人的兴趣。更广泛地说，这项研究调查了基因和环境如何共同影响两大洲自然发生的种群的适合度，代表了生态基因组学的重大进步。了解在新环境中取得生态成功的遗传和环境基础不仅对于减少入侵物种的影响非常重要，而且还可以改善对更可取的物种(例如当地作物品种、濒危物种)的管理，这些物种在面对快速的全球变化时难以生存。

The Anthropocene is marked by several growing threats to global biodiversity, including climate change, large-scale habitat modification, and long-distance translocation of species across major dispersal barriers (e.g. oceans, mountain ranges, deserts). Evolution in these novel environments could prevent extinction and ultimately facilitate range expansion, but contemporary evolution and its effects on ecological dynamics are rarely studied in natural populations exposed to novel environments. My long-term research goal is to understand how and why contemporary evolution occurs in novel environments, and how this influences ecological dynamics.Invasive species threaten human health and welfare but also represent natural' experiments in contemporary evolution. My short-term research plan focuses on two of Canada's most invasive weeds purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) and garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata). I have developed these experimental systems over the last 10+ years and I will use them to test for a shift in natural selection, adaptive divergence and an increase in individual fitness and population-level performance in North America relative to the native range (Europe). These are key predictions of a number of highly influential hypotheses in invasion biology that have proven difficult to test using traditional approaches in evolutionary ecology. I propose a novel approach that combines cutting-edge advances in next-generation sequencing with coordinated, distributed field studies to collect field data and genetic resources from thousands of individuals at hundreds of locations across Europe and North America. Using this approach I will investigate the effects of local adaptation and invasion history on population genetic structure, and control for these processes in order to make meaningful comparisons of natural selection, evolution and performance between Europe and North America.The proposed research provides training opportunities for 1 PDF, 3PhD, 2 MSc and 13 BSc thesis students in a number of cutting-edge techniques that lie at the interface of modern genomics, computational biology and field ecology. Research on invasive species is generally interesting to hunters and anglers, wildlife enthusiasts, naturalists, gardeners, birders, eco-tourists, ranchers, farmers, and many more. More generally, this research investigates how genotype and environment jointly affect fitness in naturally occurring populations across two continents, representing a significant advance in ecological genomics. Understanding the genetic and environmental basis of ecological success in novel environments will be important not only for reducing the impacts of invasive species but also could improve management of more desirable species (e.g. local crop varieties, endangered species) struggling to persist in the face of rapid global change.