DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Ecological Selection and the Evolution of Reproductive Isolation in a Marine Copepod

University Of Georgia Research Foundation Inc, Athens GA

Investigators

Abstract

DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Ecological Selection and the Evolution of Reproductive Isolation in a Marine Copepod Daniel Promilow and Amber Keyser This research is designed to study the evolutionary consequences of environmental change on an abundant, marine organism, Tigriopus californicus. Changing climate patterns affect the temperature and salinity conditions that these copepods experience. The species must be able to adapt to these changes, or risk extinction. However, adaptation to changing ecological conditions can be a mixed blessing because the indirect effects of adaptation can influence many different aspects of the organism's lifestyle. One of the most dramatic secondary consequences can be the evolution of barriers to interbreeding between populations. In this series of experiments, the researchers will maintain populations of copepods under different environmental conditions in the laboratory. This will simulate various kinds of climate change. Over sixteen generations in the laboratory, the researchers will look for evidence of adaptation to the new conditions at a molecular level and at the developmental level. In addition, they will look for indirect effects of climate change such as an increasing inability of copepods from different populations to interbreed. The results of these experiments will help researchers to predict the long-term, evolutionary effects of global climate change on crustaceans in the marine environment.