Synthesis of scientific research is critical for advancing our understanding of fundamental ecological principles and for charting future research directions. The PI will spend two years synthesizing a 21-year series of investigations on the evolutionary and behavioral ecology of an isolated population of Savannah Sparrows breeding at the Bowdoin Scientific Station on Kent Island, New Brunswick. The project will have three main outcomes: (1) a comprehensive, widely accessible scholarly monograph; (2) popular articles on how to enrich undergraduate scientific education and on the importance of synthesis in ecology; and (3) extensive long-term data sets made available on the web for researchers, educators and students.
The main focus will be exploring how different biological traits are inherited in natural populations. Making these extensive data sets available to researchers and students will allow them to explore a wealth of scientific questions. A major impact of this work will be the continued inspiration, training and mentoring of students. So far, thirty-three undergraduates have co-authored publications based on the research that will be synthesized here, highlighting the value of integrating research with education.
A fundamental question in biology deals with the degree to which natural variation in traits as diverse as body size, reproductive behavior, and longevity is underlain by genetic differences between individuals. Put another way, what is the heritability of diverse characteristics in wild populations? An NSF OPUS grant allowed me to take a yearlong leave from teaching at Bowdoin College in order to analyze a long-term study of variation in an island bird population. Since 1986 my undergraduate students and I have been investigating the ecology and behavior of Savannah Sparrows on isolated Kent Island, New Brunswick. Although the project has many facets, this year I chose to focus on comparing what is known as the "quantitative genetics" of more than 100 different characteristics. The work required collaboration with two eminent evolutionary biologists from the University of Zurich, Erik Postma and Lukas Keller. The highly non-intuitive conclusion of our analyses is that variation in traits that are exceedingly important for an animal’s fitness (say, lifespan) is almost entirely environmental, whereas traits that have little influence on survival or reproductive success (say, tarsus length) are highly heritable. We have recently completed a manuscript which will be submitted to the journal Nature this month. A second paper is currently in review in the ornithological journal Condor. I took advantage of the grant to make several long-term databases (on Tree Swallows and Leach’s Storm-Petrels as well as Savannah Sparrows) available on the web. This research was showcased in 2010 in a symposium on evolution in island bird populations at the International Ornithological Congress in Brazil. It has also been presented at several universities (University of Maine, University of Zurich, Bucknell University, Bowdoin and Colby Colleges) as well as to popular audiences in Maine.
