NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2017: The effect of intraspecific variation on interactions among species

Noto Akana, Pasadena CA

Investigators

Abstract

This is an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology, under the program Broadening Participation of Groups Under-represented in Biology. The fellow, Akana Noto, is conducting research and receiving training that is increasing the participation of groups underrepresented in biology. The fellow is being mentored by Randall Hughes and Tarik Gouhier at Northeastern University. This research aims to investigate the importance of biodiversity on ecological communities, focusing on New England salt marshes. Scientists frequently study species diversity (how many species are present), but research increasingly shows that genetic and trait diversity within a single species can be similarly important. Species containing more variation among individuals are less affected by environmental change, and recover from change more quickly. However, the effect of variation within a species on its interactions with other species remains unclear. The fellow's research explores how diversity within species affects competition among salt marsh plants and consumption by the herbivorous crabs that eat them. Salt marshes serve many important 'ecosystem functions' including filtering water and protecting shorelines from storms, and this research will generate predictions to inform the best ways to manage and restore this important threatened ecosystem. The fellow is developing educational activities and lesson plans for local elementary and middle school students, particularly those from low-income and underrepresented minority communities, focusing on the importance of variation within species. These activities are based in local ecosystems and help students from largely urban areas learn about their local environment as well as important biological concepts. The fellow will use a combination of field experiments (1,2) and models (3) to ask the following specific questions about how intraspecific variation affects plant communities via species interactions: (1) How does intraspecific genetic diversity within a plant species affect interspecific competition? (2) How does intraspecific trait diversity among consumers affect plants, and is this effect mediated by plant genetic diversity? (3) How will plant biomass vary with plant and consumer intraspecific diversity across space? Salt marshes are a good model system because intraspecific diversity is known to be important and easy to manipulate. These questions provide a good basis for teaching students key concepts such as genetic diversity and evolution, and this research will allow the fellow to receive training in molecular techniques and development of mathematical and computational models.