NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology: The Evolution of an Avian Color Palette: The Roles of Genes, Environment, and Life History Underlying Egg and Feather Color in Weaver Birds

Fellow's name: Jackie Childers Proposal number: 2209232

Research title: The evolution of an avian color palette: understanding the roles of genes, environment, and life history underlying egg and feather color in weaver birds (Ploceidae)

Sponsoring scientist(s) and host institution(s): Dr. Allison J. Shultz, Assistant Curator, Ornithology Department, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (NHMLAC)

Co-Sponsoring scientist: Dr. Linnea Hall, Executive Director/Avian Conservation Biologist, Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology (WFVZ)

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2022, 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. The vibrant colors of bird feathers and eggs have long fascinated biologists who have largely focused on their importance in social signals.

However, variation in plumage and egg color among bird species is often associated with habitat and ecological differences, suggesting that the environment plays a strong role in driving the evolution of avian color traits. The project focuses on the weaver family (Ploceidae), which includes more than 100 species found in a wide variety of habitats throughout sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia, with individual species exhibiting unique combinations of feather and egg colors.

The fellow will integrate color, environmental, and genetic data and use a novel approach to study evolutionary patterns of egg and plumage color in tandem. In doing so, the research will expand the fields of ecology and evolution by considering the role that coloration plays in allowing species to adapt to their environments and determine whether eggs and feathers evolve together.

The fellowship will facilitate research and professional development opportunities for students from universities and colleges in the greater Los Angeles area, many of which are primarily minority serving.

Within a biological context, coloration is a mediator between an organism and its environment and can play important roles in factors such as social signaling, thermoregulation, and antipredator defense. Comparative studies of avian coloration have demonstrated that it is subject to natural (e.g., camouflage) and sexual selection (e.g., prezygotic barrier).

However, how various selective pressures interact with genes and the environment to produce color diversity remains poorly understood. The project will combine: 1) phenotypic data from eggs and plumage collected from museum specimens of weaver species; 2) georeferenced occurrence data of weaver species from which environmental variables will be extracted; and 3) whole genomes generated during the fellow’s Ph.D. which will be used to conduct comparative phylogenomic analyses of egg and feather color traits.

Using digital imaging techniques, the project will also be the first family-level study to compare feather microstructures among species, potentially leading to the discovery of new color-generating mechanisms in feathers beyond pigments. To broaden the impact of the research the fellow will: 1) provide research opportunities for undergraduates related to the project; 2) participate in museum outreach events; 3) run Leadership in STEM summer workshop series geared towards early-career scientists.

These combined activities seek to increase public engagement and retention of students in STEM fields from diverse backgrounds and highlight the critical role that museums play in acting as an interface between scientists and the local community.

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.