Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology: Effects of Rapid Evolution on Alternative Community States at Multiple Spatial Scales

生物学博士后研究奖学金：快速进化对多个空间尺度的替代群落状态的影响

• 批准号: 2209354
• 负责人: Lucas Nell
• 金额: $ 13.8万
• 依托单位: Nell Lucas
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Fellowship Award
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-07-01 至 2024-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2209354&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Postdoctoral; Research; Fellowship; Biology; Effects

Fellow's name: Lucas NellProposal number: 2209354Research title: Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology: Effects of Rapid Evolution on Alternative Community States at Multiple Spatial ScalesSponsoring scientist(s) and host institution(s): Tadashi Fukami, Stanford UniversityThis action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2022, Integrative Research Investigating the Rules of Life Governing Interactions Between Genomes, Environment and Phenotypes. The fellowship supports research and training of the fellow that will contribute to the area of Rules of Life in innovative ways. This project will study how rapid evolution affects patterns of alternative ecological community states through space. Alternative community states are the different outcomes that are possible for a particular ecological community, and they arise as a result of chance events that occur while communities are forming. By using both laboratory experiments and mathematical models, this research will help understand how evolution affects the historical contingency that makes predicting community outcomes notoriously difficult. Additionally, it has clear implications for understanding other microbial communities such as those in the human gut. The fellow will also help broaden the participation of underrepresented groups through (1) mentorship of an undergraduate research team and (2) a paid internship program for formerly incarcerated research scholars.This research will study how rapid evolution alters alternative community states at both single-community and metacommunity (a network of interconnected communities) scales. Microbes in sticky monkey-flower nectar are an ideal study system because they can be easily used to replicate the process of community assembly in the laboratory and because the constituent species can rapidly evolve ecological traits. The research will address two main questions: (1) How does rapid trait evolution affect the compositions of alternative community states and their prevalence across a metacommunity? In laboratory microcosm experiments, the initial standing variation for traits affecting alternative community states will be manipulated, and the patterns of community states through space will be compared for low-variation (i.e., weaker evolution) and high-variation treatments. (2) Under what conditions do rapid evolution and immigration alter how alternative metacommunity states affect species coexistence? A mathematical model will be developed to simulate the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of microbe communities in sticky monkey-flower nectar. Simulations will be used to assess how metacommunity-level coexistence among species can be maintained despite alternative states that should inhibit coexistence. In addressing both questions, the fellow will develop new skills in building a system-specific model from the ground up, fitting experimental data to a mechanistic model, and working with microbes in the laboratory.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

研究员姓名：卢卡斯·内尔提案编号：2209354研究标题：生物学博士后研究奖学金：快速进化对多个空间尺度的替代社区状态的影响赞助科学家和主办机构：深见正，斯坦福大学此行动资助 NSF 博士后研究2022 财年生物学奖学金，调查生命管理规则的综合研究基因组、环境和表型之间的相互作用。该奖学金支持研究员的研究和培训，以创新的方式为生活规则领域做出贡献。该项目将研究快速进化如何通过空间影响替代生态群落状态的模式。替代社区状态是特定生态社区可能出现的不同结果，它们是社区形成时发生的偶然事件的结果。通过使用实验室实验和数学模型，这项研究将有助于了解进化如何影响历史偶然事件，而历史偶然事件使得预测社区结果变得非常困难。此外，它对于了解其他微生物群落（例如人类肠道中的微生物群落）具有明显的意义。该研究员还将通过（1）本科生研究团队的指导和（2）为前被监禁的研究学者提供带薪实习计划来帮助扩大代表性不足群体的参与。这项研究将研究快速进化如何改变单一社区的替代社区状态。社区和元社区（互连社区的网络）规模。粘性猴花花蜜中的微生物是一个理想的研究系统，因为它们可以很容易地在实验室中复制群落组装过程，而且组成物种可以快速进化生态特征。该研究将解决两个主要问题：（1）快速特征进化如何影响替代社区状态的组成及其在元社区中的流行程度？在实验室微观世界实验中，影响替代群落状态的性状的初始常量变异将被操纵，并且将通过空间比较群落状态的模式，以进行低变异（即较弱的进化）和高变异处理。 (2) 在什么条件下，快速进化和移民会改变替代元群落状态如何影响物种共存？将开发一个数学模型来模拟粘性猴花花蜜中微生物群落的生态和进化动态。模拟将用于评估如何在存在应抑制共存的替代状态的情况下维持物种之间的元群落水平共存。在解决这两个问题时，该研究员将培养从头开始构建特定系统模型、将实验数据拟合到机械模型以及在实验室中处理微生物的新技能。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并被认为是值得的通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来获得支持。