The Process of Territorial Settlement: Field Experiments and Theoretical Models

最近的研究表明，动物领地的特征对个体领地所有者的生存和繁殖成功以及整个物种的种群生态都有重要的影响。对于具有季节性领土的物种，如候鸟，领土获取和定居初期的事件可能对领土大小、相邻领土之间的接触程度以及栖息地内领土个体的密度等特征产生强烈影响。例如，在定居期间同时竞争领土的动物数量可能会影响领土的大小，导致在许多个体竞争空间的年份比在领土竞争者较少的年份更小的领土。同样，当所有定居者同时到达时（同时定居），领土可能比定居者在许多天或几周内分散到达时（顺序定居）更小，分布更密集。尽管领土动物的定居行为具有潜在的重要性，但对这些现象的实证或理论研究很少。斯坦普斯博士将使用三种不同的、互补的研究技术来研究定居者获得领土的过程：实地实验、理论建模和对定居点文献的回顾。利用幼蜥进行的野外实验将为两个过程提供受控的经验检验，这两个过程是对领地物种的假设：(1)竞争者数量与领地大小之间的关系；(2)定居的时间模式（顺序的还是同时的）与领地大小之间的关系。这些实地研究的结果，结合对分散的关于沉降的文献的审查，将用于发展一套沉降的一般计算机模型。反过来，这些模型的结果将为现场试验提供进一步的方向。这些关于领地定居的详细研究对许多研究季节性领地物种的生态学家和行为生物学家很有帮助。此外，这项工作与养护和保护濒危物种的问题直接相关，其中许多物种是按季节保卫领土的。

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.