The Process of Territorial Settlement: Field Experiments and Theoretical Models

最近的研究表明， 领土对人类的生存和 繁殖成功的个人领土所有者和人口 整个物种的生态。 对于有季节性领地的物种来说， 例如候鸟，在领土初期发生的事件- 收购和结算可能会对此类 领土的大小，联系的程度， 邻近的领土，以及领土内个体的密度 栖息地。 例如，动物的数量同时 在定居期间争夺领土可能会影响 领土的大小，导致领土较小的年份， 个体之间的空间竞争比过去几年更少， 竞争者. 同样，当所有的定居者同时到达 （同时定居），领土可能更小，更密集 当定居者的到来是分散在许多 日或周（连续结算）。 尽管定居行为的潜在重要性， 动物，很少有经验或理论研究，这些 现象。 斯坦普斯博士将调查定居者 使用三种不同的、互补的研究来获取领土 技术：现场实验，理论建模，以及对 关于定居点的文献 利用幼年蜥蜴进行的野外实验 将提供两个过程的控制，实证测试， 对领土物种的假设：（1）数量之间的关系 竞争者和领土大小，（2）之间的关系 定居的时间模式（相继还是同时）， 领土大小。 这些实地研究的结果，结合 对关于定居点的零散文献的回顾，将用于 建立了一套通用的沉降计算模型。 符合要求的细粉则随 这些模型的结果将建议进一步的方向，外地 实验 这些关于领土解决问题的详细研究， 许多生态学家和行为生物学家 地域性物种 此外，这项工作直接关系到 在保护和保护濒危物种方面存在的问题，许多 其中有一部分人在季节性的基础上保卫领土。

Recent research has established that the characteristics of animal territories can have important implications both for the survival and breeding success of individual territory-owners and for the population ecology of the entire species. For species with seasonal territories, such as migratory birds, events during the initial period of territory- acquisition and settlement may have a strong impact on such characteristics as territory size, the extent of contact between adjacent territories, and the density of territorial individuals within the habitat. For example, the number of animals simultaneously competing for territories during the settlement period may affect territory sizes, leading to smaller territories in years when many individuals are competing for space than in years with fewer territorial contenders. Similarly, when all of the settlers arrive at one time (simultaneous settlement), territories may be smaller and more densely distributed than when the arrival of settlers is spread out over many days or weeks (sequential settlement). Despite the potential importance of settlement behaviors of territorial animals, there are very few empirical or theoretical studies of these phenomena. Dr. Stamps will investigate the process by which settlers acquire territories using three different, complementary research techniques: field experiments, theoretical modeling, and a review of the literature on settlement. Field experiments using juvenile lizards will provide controlled, empirical tests of two processes that have been hypothesized for territorial species: (1) a relationship between number of contenders and territory size, and (2) a relationship between temporal pattern of settlement (sequential versus simultaneous) and territory size. The results of these field studies, in combination with a review of the scattered literature on settlement, will be used to develop a set of general computer models of settlement. In turn, the results of these models will suggest further directions for field experimentation. These detailed studies on territorial settlement should be useful to the many ecologists amd behavioral biologists working with seasonally territorial species. In addition, this work is directly relevant to problems in conservation and the protection of endangered species, many of which defend territories on a seasonal basis.