| NSF Org: |
DBI Division of Biological Infrastructure |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | June 28, 2021 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | June 28, 2021 |
| Award Number: | 2109663 |
| Award Instrument: | Fellowship Award |
| Program Manager: |
Joel Abraham
jkabraha@nsf.gov (703)292-4694 DBI Division of Biological Infrastructure BIO Directorate for Biological Sciences |
| Start Date: | March 1, 2022 |
| End Date: | February 29, 2024 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $138,000.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $138,000.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
Gainesville FL US 32611 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
Gainesville FL US 32611-8525 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | Biology Postdoctoral Research |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Reference Code(s): | |
| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.074 |
ABSTRACT
This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2021, 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 United States is home to the highest diversity of salamanders in the world, but these amphibians are at risk of contracting an invasive fungal pathogen (called Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans, or Bsal for short) that is responsible for local extinctions of salamanders in Europe. This research investigates how environmental temperature affect different salamander species? ability to manipulate body temperature and metabolism to influence immune function and combat Bsal. In addition to providing information about management of an emerging disease in salamanders, this project supports the development of salamander-focused education and outreach materials. The fellow will create and disseminate early education lesson plans, host draw-to-learn events, and create informational posters and brochures on the diversity and ecology of salamanders, which will all be made free and available for public use. The fellow will gain training in mentorship of students underrepresented in STEM fields and in laboratory and analytical techniques for application in disease ecology research.
Bsal infects salamanders? major respiratory organ (skin), presenting a clear trade-off between upregulating immune processes at high temperatures while simultaneously increasing demands for oxygen. Through experimental infection trials of Desmognathus salamanders with and without thermal gradients and integrated assessment of functional genomics, behavior, and physiology, this project will 1) reveal if interspecific differences in disease susceptibility and functional responses are exacerbated by thermal environments; 2) quantify the trade-offs and influence of thermal environment on physiological responses during infection; and 3) provide predictions of the adaptive value of thermal plasticity in limiting disease risk. In addition to training in functional genomics and infection trials, the fellow will gain training in niche modeling to project Bsal susceptibility risk across the landscape using information about Plethodontid salamander species? thermal preferences. The data generated by this project can later be applied to answer ecological and evolutionary questions in ectotherms such as how phylogeny and local environment influence thermal preferences and tolerance, or how within-species variation may influence the capacity to respond to thermal constraints imposed by climate change. The project supports the fellow?s training in development and subsequent evaluation of educational materials for broad segments of the public.
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.
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
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PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
This project investigated the effects of thermal environment on disease ecology of amphibians, with a focus on the impact of thermal gradients on infection of Batrachocytrium salamandrivorans and Batrachochytrium dendrobatadis on lungless salamanders. This included collecting thermal preference and thermal microhabitat data from salamanders in the field, developing a database of amphibian thermal traits, and implementing infection trials in the laboratory to understand the progression and metabolic costs of infection under different thermal scenarios. The results from this project will add to the base knowledge of salamander sickness behaviors and immune function, which provides foundation for continued study on the risk of emergent diseases and potential treatments for this sensitive group of organisms. Additionally, results may be useful to species conservation programs. To distinguish behavioral mechanisms of disease resistance in salamanders, the fellow collaborated to develop Project Cybermander, a community science initiative classifying time-lapse image capture data collected during infection trials. Project Cybermander, hosted on the community science platform Zooniverse, has been accessed by 1070 unique users participating in scientific data collection to date. Additionally, the fellow compiled a database with international collaborators on lower thermal limits and thermal preferences in amphibians. This database is near completion and will be provided as open access, so that trait data can be used to understand the evolution of thermal tolerance across amphibian taxa, to investigate the influence of local macroclimate on amphibian thermal traits, and to predict which species may be most at risk of extreme temperature or weather events due to climate change. Several publications are in preparation from the project, as well as from collaborative activities in amphibian disease ecology complimentary to the project. Educational materials and presentations developed by the fellow exposed the public to knowledge of salamanders, their diversity, their importance in ecosystems, and the threats they face. This included public talks, local news coverage of research activities, and implementation of illustrated educational materials in the Scientist in Every Florida School program from the Thompson Earth Science Institute at Florida Museum of Natural History. This project provided mentorship of graduate and undergraduate students from underrepresented groups through paid research experiences, where they gained training in laboratory techniques, animal care, field techniques, data analysis methods, and preparation of scientific manuscripts and presentations.
Last Modified: 06/27/2024
Modified by: Natalie M Claunch
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