OPUS: ECOLOGICAL AND EVOLUTIONARY PERSPECTIVES ON THE ORIGINS OF COMMUNITY DIVERSITY

Michigan State University, East Lansing MI

Investigators

Abstract

Fundamental to preserving the Earth's remarkable biodiversity is an understanding of the processes that determine the number and types of species found locally and regionally. This understanding is even more critical as humans rapidly mix the world's biota and introduce exotic species to new habitats at an increasing rate. This project will synthesize research in the fields of ecology and evolution to fill this gap. Results will significantly advance a major hurdle in fundamental research and in conservation, which is a clearer understanding of how ecological diversity evolves over time. They will also guide efforts to restore ecological communities of conservation concern in the face of species introductions and the invasion of exotic species. Results from this synthesis form the basis for graduate-level courses, will be incorporated as part of Michigan State University's Sparta Nature Program, which introduces incoming freshmen to research questions in the biological sciences, and will contribute to the Michigan Science Olympiad, which fosters learning in science for middle and high school students. Educational benefits are significant, as the project will introduce students at all levels to the value of synthesis across fields of study. The richness and composition of biological communities vary dramatically in time and space, and the causes of this variation have been the subject of ecological research for decades. The standard model of community assembly is based on the dispersal of species from a regional species pool and filtering by the abiotic and biotic environment to determine which species are successful in colonizing and coexisting at a local site. Ignored in this conceptual framework, however, is the question of how ecological and evolutionary processes interact to generate species pools, differences in the size and composition of these pools among regions, and whether the concept of a regional species pool is biologically valid. This OPUS award will support a collaborative effort to develop, through a series of publications, a synthesis that better incorporates the ecology of species interactions with the geography of speciation to illuminate the evolution of community diversity. Publications resulting from this award will broadly influence thinking by ecologists and evolutionary biologists alike as they address fundamental questions regarding the evolution of ecological communities, and will support graduate training and graduate education, where integration between ecology and evolution is critically needed.