Impact of Herbivores on a Costa Rican Deciduous Forest

这项建议是由世界上首屈一指的热带生态学家之一丹尼尔·扬岑教授继续在热带地区进行研究的。这是一个关于哥斯达黎加瓜纳卡斯特省西北部圣罗莎国家公园热带干燥森林中动植物相互作用的扩展基础研究计划，其结果直接应用于干燥森林生态和生物文化恢复问题(以及以传统方式出版和普及)。观察和野外实验将在以下几个方面进行：1.刺口袋鼠(Liomys Salvini)的人口学和种子捕食者专一性。2.3100多种毛虫的寄主专一性(野外)3.鳞翅目昆虫区系寄生蜂、蝇的寄主专一性。4.带给中型鸟类雏鸟的毛虫种类组成。5.以潜在有毒植物为食的毛虫与以富含潜在抑制剂的植物为食的毛虫对食物的处理方式不同。6.细叶膜草、环心果树、巨果Dioclea meracarpa和紫背天葵的种子生产生物学。7.干燥的林木入侵牧场、老田地、树木倒塌和山体滑坡。8.简要研究：树的木材生长率和衰老(通过生长轮)，访果蛾和访花蛾进出圣罗莎的迁徙，蛾蛹和大树种子的休眠，地面大型草食动物散播种子的树木落果的详细物候学，利用季节变化作为昆虫的线索，大型毛虫的逃逸行为，落叶对果树生产的影响，毛虫暴发的终止，以及毛虫在野外的生存。在热带地区遭到野蛮砍伐之际，这项研究具有至关重要的意义。它激励并继续激励着几代热带生态学家，本身就具有科学和实用价值。美国国家科学基金会的生态项目很高兴为这项研究提供支持。

This is a proposal to continue research in the tropics by one of the, if not the world's, premier tropical ecologists, Professor Daniel Janzen. This is an expanding basic research program on animal-plant interactions in the tropical, dry forests of Santa Rosa National Park in northwestern Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica, with the results being applied directly to the problem of dry forest ecological and biocultural restoration (as well as being published and popularized in traditional ways). Observations and field experiments will be conducted on: 1. Demography and seed predator specificity of Liomys salvini (spiny pocket mice). 2. Host-specificity (in the wild) of the 3100-plus species of caterpillers. 3. Host-specificity of the parasitoid wasps and flies supported by the wild Lepidoptera fauna. 4. Species composition of the caterpillars brought to the nestlings of medium-sized birds. 5. Differential food processing by caterpillars feeding on potentially toxic plants versus those feeding on plants rich in potential inhibitors. 6. Seed production biology of the trees Hymenoea courbaril, cyclocarpum, Dioclea megacarpa and Ateleia herbert-smithii. 7. Invasion of pastures, old fields, tree falls and landslides by dry forest trees. 8. Brief studies: wood increment rates and aging (by growth rings) of the tree H. courbaril and E. cyclorcarpum, migration of fruit- and flower-visiting moths in and out of Santa Rosa, dormancy of moth pupae and large tree seeds, detailed phenology of fruit drop by trees with seeds dispersed by ground-based large herbivores, use of seasonal changes as cues by insects, escape behavior of large caterpillars, impact of defoliation on fruit crop production, termination of caterpillar outbreaks, and caterpillar survivorship in the wild. At a time when tropical areas are being brutally deforested, this research is of paramount importance. It stimulated and continues to stimulate generations of tropical ecologists and is of scientific and practical value in and of itself. The Ecology Program of the NSF is pleased to support the research.