BCI EDGE · Aim 2
Selection in action
Connecting individual genomes and leaf chemistry with approximately 45 years of recruitment, growth and mortality records inside the BCI 50-hectare plot.
The question
Can we observe natural selection unfolding in a forest?
Every mapped tree has experienced a distinct neighborhood of competitors, pathogens and herbivores. Aim 2 asks whether those ecological histories leave detectable changes in genetic variation among life stages, spatial neighborhoods and recruitment cohorts.
The approach
Link genomes to individual life histories
50 focal species will connect genomic and chemical variation to the most detailed tropical forest demographic record available.
- Whole-genome resequencing of mapped individuals
- Tree-neighborhood and density-dependence models
- Recruitment cohorts spanning multiple censuses
- Survival, growth and mortality histories
- Defense loci, leaf chemistry and metabolomic traits
Why it matters
A direct test of ecological selection
This work will reveal whether natural enemies and local neighborhoods act as selective forces—and whether those forces help maintain genetic and species diversity over decades.