DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Morphological evolution, specialization, and functional ecology in a diverse genus of ants

论文研究：不同蚂蚁属的形态进化、专业化和功能生态学

• 批准号: 1701352
• 负责人: Corrie Moreau
• 金额: $ 1.5万
• 依托单位: University of Chicago
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2017-06-01 至 2019-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1701352&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: DISSERTATION; RESEARCH; Morphological; evolution; specialization

This project will address a fundamental question in biology: the mechanisms that allow many species to persist in any single environment. Ants are highly diverse in many different habitats and are important for ecological processes worldwide. To understand what promotes the persistence of ant diversity, the association between physical traits, such as spines and stings, and ecological interactions, like competition and defenses against predators, must be experimentally determined. This project will investigate one of the most widespread and commonly encountered ant groups in tropical Africa, Asia, and the Pacific, the spiny ant, Polyrhachis. Using ecological field experiments, this research will assess the effect of a wide range of anatomical defenses on ant competition and anti-predator defense. It will contribute to our understanding of the mechanisms that promote biodiversity in tropical habitats. Furthermore, this project will foster international collaborations between researchers in the U.S. and those in China. The researchers will also actively participate in numerous outreach and public engagement opportunities in Chicago, including various science education programs at the Field Museum of Natural History, and academic tutoring of middle and high school students from groups that are underrepresented in the sciences.To elucidate the ecological selective forces driving spine adaptation and specialization in Polyrhachis, the researchers will conduct a series of competition and predator-prey experiments at the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG) in Yunnan, China. These experiments will include a range of species that are present at this site and that span the full range of spine morphology, from absent to extremely long. In the first set of tests, the researchers will assess the impact of spines on interspecific ant competition. In the second, the researchers will quantify the survival benefit conferred by spines as defenses against frog predators. These experiments will be conducted in the lab using colonies collected in the field. A common chamber design with experimental spine length manipulation will allow for differentiating the survival effects of spine length in terms of two fundamental ecological interactions. Using data from these experiments, the researchers will evaluate the evidence for an ecological trade-off between competitive ability and anti-predator defense mediated by spines. These empirical tests of the trade-off hypothesis in Polyrhachis, a remarkable animal radiation, will expand scientific understanding of the processes that promote community coexistence and ecological success.

该项目将解决生物学中的一个基本问题：允许许多物种在任何单一环境中持续存在的机制。蚂蚁在许多不同的栖息地中高度多样化，对于全球生态过程很重要。为了了解促进蚂蚁多样性持久性的是什么，必须通过实验确定物理特征（例如刺和刺激）之间的关联，以及诸如竞争和防御捕食者的生态相互作用。该项目将研究热带非洲，亚洲和太平洋，多刺的蚂蚁，波尔里哈斯的最广泛，通常遇到的蚂蚁群之一。使用生态场实验，这项研究将评估广泛的解剖防御对蚂蚁竞争和抗侵犯防御的影响。它将有助于我们理解促进热带栖息地生物多样性的机制。此外，该项目将促进美国研究人员与中国研究人员之间的国际合作。 The researchers will also actively participate in numerous outreach and public engagement opportunities in Chicago, including various science education programs at the Field Museum of Natural History, and academic tutoring of middle and high school students from groups that are underrepresented in the sciences.To elucidate the ecological selective forces driving spine adaptation and specialization in Polyrhachis, the researchers will conduct a series of competition and predator-prey experiments at the Xishuangbanna Tropical中国云南的植物园（XTBG）。这些实验将包括在此地点存在的一系列物种，并跨越从缺失到极长的脊柱形态的全部范围。在第一组测试中，研究人员将评估刺对种间蚂蚁竞争的影响。在第二个中，研究人员将量化刺赋予青蛙捕食者的刺激性的生存益处。这些实验将在实验室中使用田间收集的菌落进行。具有实验性脊柱长度操纵的常见腔室设计将使脊柱长度的生存作用以两种基本的生态相互作用而区分。利用这些实验的数据，研究人员将评估竞争能力与棘突介导的抗抗逆客防御之间的生态权衡的证据。这些对波里尔哈斯（Polyrhachis）的权衡假设的经验检验（一种非凡的动物辐射）将扩大对促进社区共存和生态成功过程的过程的科学理解。