Details of Award
NERC Reference : NER/B/S/2003/00856
Guild phylogeography of oak feeding gall wasps.
Grant Award
- Principal Investigator:
- Professor G Stone, University of Edinburgh, Inst of Evolutionary Biology
- Co-Investigator:
- Dr S Nee, University of Edinburgh, Sch of Biological Sciences
- Grant held at:
- University of Edinburgh, Inst of Evolutionary Biology
- Science Area:
- Terrestrial
- Overall Classification:
- Terrestrial
- ENRIs:
- Natural Resource Management
- Global Change
- Biodiversity
- Science Topics:
- Population Genetics/Evolution
- Climate & Climate Change
- Abstract:
- The distributions of organisms are not stable in time, but shift in response to factors such as changes in global climate. Phylogeography - the study of the evolutionary relationships between spatially separated populations of a species - has proved increasingly important in identifying centres of intraspecific genetic diversity on which conservation efforts should be focussed. However, phylogeographic studies of European taxa in general currently share 3 limitations: 1. They focus predominantly on single species rather than the sets of species that make up biological communities. Do members of a community commonly show similar histories of origin and range expansion? The development of a multispecies approach is essential to understanding how communities have evolved, and this in turn is central to analyses of community structure. 2. They rarely consider the full longitudinal distribution of widespread species. Many species regarded as European -including important keystone species such as the English oak Quercus robur and sessile oak Quercus petraea - have populations extending eastwards into Turkey, Iran and the Caucasus. The genetic diversity present in eastern populations (and so their conservation significance) remains largely unknown. 3. They concentrate predominantly on latitudinal range changes associated with recent (10,000 to 20,000 years ago) post-glacial escape from Pleistocene glacial refugia in southern Europe. Little is known about the more ancient longitudinal colonisation processes linking these refugia. This proposal aims to address these 3 issues by establishing the phylogeographic histories of 8 members of a single insect guild (gallwasps on oak) sampled over their full geographic range (from Morocco to Iran). We will also specifically assess the generality of an eastern origin followed by ancient expansion (4-7 million years ago) into the west recently demonstrated for 2 oak gallwasp species. The work builds on extensive previous research on gallwasps by the PI, and will achieve major outputs for low cost (#29,976).
- NERC Reference:
- NER/B/S/2003/00856
- Grant Stage:
- Completed
- Scheme:
- Small Grants Pre FEC
- Grant Status:
- Closed
- Programme:
- Small Grants
This grant award has a total value of £31,500
FDAB - Financial Details (Award breakdown by headings)
| Total - T&S | Total - Other Costs |
|---|---|
| £6,514 | £24,985 |
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