NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2020: Do energy gradients mediate cannibalism-driven population dynamics?

Thomas, Scott, Akron OH

Investigators

Abstract

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2020, 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. Energy from food and heat supports survival and reproduction, suggesting that energy availability could control population size, but this remains largely unstudied. This problem is particularly pressing for imperiled organisms such as amphibians that live in many different places including harsh northerly and high-elevation environments. One potentially important biological response to a lack of resources is increased cannibalism. Some studies have shown cannibalism affects population size in amphibians (including salamanders) as well as other organisms such as economically important fish. This research tests the role of cannibalism in regulating population size in energy-scarce conditions, focusing on salamanders inhabiting mountain ponds. The fellow will use a combination of long-term population data, experiments, and computer modeling to test how availability of resources influences the role of cannibalism in controlling population numbers. The fellow will broaden the impact of this research and develop as a teacher and science communicator by creating online lessons and establishing an K-12 outreach program at the rural host institution. The fellow will take an integrative approach to explore how energy gradients influence population dynamics across multiple spatial and temporal scales. Analyses of a 30+ year mark-recapture dataset will test relationships between tiger salamander recruitment and the energy available to potential cannibals across years and ponds at one high-elevation Colorado site. Common garden experiments and stable isotope analyses will compare cannibalism rates across spatial energy gradients both within the long-term study site and across locations throughout west-central Colorado. The fellow will also use the long-term data to parameterize individual-based population models to simulate the effects of life history responses to energetic shifts such as climate warming on long-term population dynamics and viability. The fellow’s training and career development will be further enhanced through activities including grant writing, analytical training, symposium organization, and student mentoring that will prepare the fellow to succeed as an independent and collaborative researcher. The impact of the project will be broadened by educational 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.