International Research Fellowship Program: Fine-Scaled Genetic Structure of a Free Ranging Elephant Population

国际研究奖学金计划：自由放养大象种群的精细遗传结构

• 批准号: 0502340
• 负责人: George Wittemyer
• 金额: $ 15.8万
• 依托单位: Wittemyer George
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Fellowship Award
• 财政年份: 2006
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2006-01-01 至 2007-10-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0502340&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: International; Research; Fellowship; Program; Fine

0502340WittemyerThe International Research Fellowship Program enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct three to twenty-four months of research abroad. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions abroad.This award will support a twenty-two-month research fellowship by Dr. George Wittemyer to work with Dr. Silvester Nyakaana, at Makerere University in Uganda, and with Dr. Hans Siegismund at Copenhagen University in Denmark.With elephant populations increasing in some parts of Africa and declining in others, wildlife authorities face a range of conservation issues including human elephant conflict, ivory poaching, and growing habitat confinement that demand a variety of management solutions such as translocation, fencing and increased policing. This project provides detailed information on fine-scaled genetic structuring of a free-ranging elephant population, offering needed information to managers and conservationists dealing with the variety of issues facing elephants today. This research builds on seven years of detailed records of individual association behavior, three years of G.P.S. radio tracking data, and genetic data from 20 microsatellite loci analyzed for 400 individuals to provide information on (a) the genetic basis for social behavior, (b) the spatial resolution where significant allele frequency differentiation occurs within a single contiguous population and (c) the affect of variable ecological conditions (seasonality) on hierarchical fission-fusion social structuring and temporal population genetic structuring. The PIS will advance theoretical research on the formation and function of social structure and provide information on the spatial resolution and degree of gene flow occurring within a contiguous population. Dr. Nyakaana is head of the Wildlife Genetics Group at Makerere University Institute of Environment and Natural Resources, one of the leading ecology groups in Africa. Dr. Siegismund is an internationally recognized expert on the quantitative analytical methods of population genetics.

0502340Wittemyer国际研究奖学金计划使美国科学家和工程师能够在国外进行三到二十四个月的研究。 该项目的奖项为联合研究以及使用国外独特或互补的设施、专业知识和实验条件提供了机会。该奖项将支持 George Wittemyer 博士与 Silvester Nyakaana 博士合作的为期 22 个月的研究奖学金，乌干达麦克雷雷大学和丹麦哥本哈根大学的汉斯·西吉斯蒙德博士。随着非洲某些地区大象数量的增加和其他地区的减少，野生动物当局面临着一系列保护问题，包括人象冲突、象牙偷猎和日益严重的栖息地限制，需要采取各种管理解决方案，例如易地、围栏和加强治安。 该项目提供了有关自由放养大象种群的精细遗传结构的详细信息，为处理大象当今面临的各种问题的管理者和保护主义者提供了所需的信息。 这项研究建立在七年的个人关联行为详细记录、三年的全球定位系统 (G.P.S.) 记录的基础上。无线电跟踪数据和对 400 个人分析的 20 个微卫星位点的遗传数据，提供以下信息：(a) 社会行为的遗传基础，(b) 单个连续群体内发生显着等位基因频率差异的空间分辨率，以及 (c)可变生态条件（季节性）对等级裂变融合社会结构和时间种群遗传结构的影响。 PIS将推进社会结构的形成和功能的理论研究，并提供有关连续人口内发生的基因流动的空间分辨率和程度的信息。 Nyakaana 博士是麦克雷雷大学环境与自然资源研究所野生动物遗传学小组的负责人，该研究所是非洲领先的生态小组之一。 Siegismund博士是国际公认的群体遗传学定量分析方法专家。