EAGER: Testing for genes associated with migratory behavior in a peripatetic species

Significant ecological changes are expected over the next century, including substantial increases in sea level, annual precipitation, daily temperature, spread of invasive species, and urbanization. To survive these changes, species will be required to either adapt to new conditions or move (disperse) to suitable habitats. Many species are unable to disperse due to geographic, physiological or social constraints, while other species disperse broadly and often.

Peripatetic species are migrant in that they are based in various locations for relatively short periods of time. It is frequently assumed that these highly mobile species will weather large-scale habitat disturbance via dispersal. This assumption, however, has rarely been tested and there is little known of the genetic basis of migration in peripatetic species, which is key to determining the likelihood of dispersal and colonization of new habitats.

This research will shed light on the evolutionary responses of a peripatetic species to the drastic environmental changes expected over the next century. At the same time, it will improve our understanding of evolution and behavior of wading birds generally and provide the information needed to properly focus conservation management efforts. This project also will support the development of a bioinformatics course and the training of a postdoctoral fellow.

This study uses the threatened American wood stork (Mycteria americana) as a model species to study the evolution of migratory behavior in peripatetic species. A complete and annotated reference genome will be built for wood storks. Whole genome resequencing and genome-wide association analysis will be used to test for genes under positive selection between resident and migrant storks nesting throughout the US southeast and Cuba.

The project will test if variation at migration candidate genes is correlated with recent colonization of stork nesting sites and allow for surveys of variation at these genes in wading birds broadly. The study will reveal the evolutionary origins and genetic architecture of migratory phenotypes in wood storks with broad implications for the evolution of behavior.

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.