NSF PRFB FY 2023: Considering evolutionary responses to temperature variability when predicting risk to climate change and disease in amphibians

NSF PRFB 2023 财年：在预测气候变化和两栖动物疾病风险时考虑对温度变化的进化反应

• 批准号: 2305659
• 负责人: Jennifer Cocciardi
• 金额: $ 24万
• 依托单位: Cocciardi, Jennifer M
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Fellowship Award
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2024-01-01 至 2026-12-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2305659&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: NSF; PRFB; FY; 2023; Considering

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2023, 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 research will address how the dual pressures of climate change and disease interact to affect one of the most endangered taxa on the planet, amphibians. While independently, climate change and emerging infectious diseases present daunting challenges to species persistence, together they can increase vulnerability by promoting pathogen growth rates, altering host immune response, and reducing host thermal tolerance. Most research in this area has focused on how temperature variability can increase the risk of disease, with few studies examining if the disease affects vulnerability to temperature extremes. Yet, understanding this is crucial, given that temperature variability and extremes are a trademark of climate change. This project will explore this question, as well as broaden diversity and increase participation in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology field by supporting the development of an immersive summer experience for underrepresented high school students in amphibian disease ecology.This research will take an interdisciplinary approach to understand how the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) increases vulnerability to temperature variability in an amphibian host species. To do so, this project will quantify the relationship between disease prevalence, environment, phenotype, and genotype in the northern cricket frog (Acris crepitans), resulting in a predictive risk model. Specifically, the research will consider the importance of evolutionary responses to temperature variability and extreme events when predicting the risk to climate change and disease. The fellow will conduct an observational survey correlating local variation in thermal traits to Bd prevalence and microhabitat temperatures, an empirical experiment investigating if and how Bd alters thermal physiology, and a quantitative genetics experiment relating phenotypes to population-level genetic variance to predict the adaptive potential of thermal traits. This project will culminate in a predictive risk model that links Bd infection dynamics, host demography, thermal performance, and evolution to understand population-level resilience to changing wildlife disease dynamics under future climate change scenarios. This project will involve training the fellow in wildlife disease ecology and disease modeling, as well as providing opportunities to practice inclusive pedagogy through training and outreach.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.

该行动资助 2023 财年 NSF 生物学博士后研究奖学金，旨在调查基因组、环境和表型之间相互作用的生命规则的综合研究。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。这项研究将探讨气候变化和疾病的双重压力如何相互作用，从而影响地球上最濒危的类群之一——两栖动物。虽然气候变化和新出现的传染病各自对物种的持久性提出了严峻的挑战，但它们共同作用可以通过促进病原体生长速度、改变宿主免疫反应和降低宿主热耐受性来增加脆弱性。该领域的大多数研究都集中在温度变化如何增加疾病风险上，很少有研究探讨疾病是否会影响极端温度的脆弱性。然而，鉴于温度变化和极端现象是气候变化的标志，理解这一点至关重要。该项目将探讨这个问题，并通过支持为两栖动物疾病生态学中代表性不足的高中生开发沉浸式夏季体验，扩大生态学和进化生物学领域的多样性并增加参与。这项研究将采用跨学科方法来了解真菌病原体 Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) 如何增加两栖动物宿主物种对温度变化的脆弱性。为此，该项目将量化北方蟋蟀蛙 (Acris crepitans) 疾病患病率、环境、表型和基因型之间的关系，从而形成预测风险模型。具体来说，该研究将在预测气候变化和疾病风险时考虑进化对温度变化和极端事件的反应的重要性。该研究员将进行一项观察性调查，将热特征的局部变化与 Bd 患病率和微生境温度相关联，进行一项实证实验，调查 Bd 是否以及如何改变热生理学，以及一项将表型与群体水平遗传方差联系起来的定量遗传学实验，以预测适应潜力的热特性。该项目最终将形成一个预测风险模型，将 Bd 感染动态、宿主人口统计、热性能和进化联系起来，以了解未来气候变化情景下人口层面对野生动物疾病动态变化的适应能力。该项目将包括对研究员进行野生动物疾病生态学和疾病建模方面的培训，并通过培训和推广提供实践包容性教学法的机会。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和知识进行评估，被认为值得支持。更广泛的影响审查标准。