DISSERTATION RESEARCH: The relative contribution of pollen vs. seed dispersal to gene flow in a fragmented Neotropical landscape

论文研究：破碎的新热带景观中花粉与种子传播对基因流的相对贡献

• 批准号: 1501514
• 负责人: Jordan Karubian
• 金额: $ 1.8万
• 依托单位: Tulane University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2015-04-01 至 2017-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1501514&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: DISSERTATION; RESEARCH; relative; contribution; pollen

Deforestation is one of the leading threats to biodiversity around the world. When large areas of forests are cut down, often to accommodate humans, the chance of extinction increases for plants and animals that remain in isolated fragments. For plants, the movement of pollen and seeds has the potential to connect these pieces of forest and increase long-term population health. This project will examine how pollen and seed movement among forest fragments influences genetic connectivity and diversity, thereby minimizing risk of extinction. This study is located in a rapidly developing region in northwest Ecuador where the local communities live alongside a high diversity of plants and animals. The results of this study will be shared directly with local owners of forest fragments, local schools and communities, as well as regional government agencies in charge of managing forests in the area. As part of this project, workshops will be given to local communities describing the biology and importance of forest fragments. US undergraduate volunteers will be recruited to participate in the proposed research and will receive training in field and laboratory techniques. This project will support the research and training of a doctoral student.The Neotropical palm Oenocarpus bataua is unusual in that seeds stay attached to established seedlings for several years. This characteristic affords the investigators the ability to separate the genetic contributions of pollen and seed dispersal within the same individuals by genotyping both seeds and leaves. Established seedlings throughout 5 additional forest fragments will be sampled for seed and leaf tissue. These samples will be combined with tissue samples already collected from 12 fragments. Microsatellite markers will be used to genotype these tissues and results will be used to estimate whether pollen or seed dispersal is contributing more to effective genetic diversity and genetic structure. The same data will be used to identify pollen and seed sources within and across fragments, as well as to compare genetic structure between fragments and continuous forest. The research will improve upon current approaches for studying gene flow of fragmented plant populations by unambiguously determining the separate and joint contributions of pollen and seed dispersal to realized patterns of genetic variation. This research is complemented by a simulation model that generates predictions of how restricting either or both pollen and seed dispersal will affect levels of genetic diversity and structure among forest fragments.

森林砍伐是对世界各地生物多样性的主要威胁之一。当砍伐大片森林时，通常是为了容纳人类，灭绝的机会增加了保留在孤立碎片中的动植物。对于植物而言，花粉和种子的运动有可能连接这些森林并增加长期人口健康。该项目将研究森林碎片之间的花粉和种子运动如何影响遗传连通性和多样性，从而最大程度地减少灭绝风险。这项研究位于厄瓜多尔西北部的一个快速发展的地区，当地社区与植物和动物的多样性一起生活。这项研究的结果将直接与森林碎片，当地学校和社区以及负责管理该地区森林的地区政府机构直接分享。作为该项目的一部分，将向描述森林碎片的生物学和重要性的当地社区举办研讨会。我们的本科志愿者将被招募参加拟议的研究，并将接受现场和实验室技术的培训。该项目将支持博士生的研究和培训。新热带棕榈oenocarpus bataua是不寻常的，因为种子保持了几年的固定幼苗。这种特征使研究人员能够通过基因分型种子和叶子分型在同一个体中分离花粉和种子分散的遗传贡献的能力。在整个5个额外的森林碎片中，已建立的幼苗将用于种子和叶组织。这些样品将与已经从12个片段收集的组织样品结合使用。微卫星标志物将用于基因类型，并将使用结果来估计花粉或种子分散是对有效的遗传多样性和遗传结构的贡献。 相同的数据将用于鉴定碎片内和跨片段内和种子来源，并比较碎片和连续森林之间的遗传结构。这项研究将通过明确确定花粉和种子散布对实现遗传变异的实现模式的单独和关节贡献来研究当前研究碎片植物种群基因流动的方法。这项研究与模拟模型相辅相成，该模型可以预测限制花粉和种子分散的方式将影响森林碎片之间的遗传多样性和结构水平。