Dissertation Research: A Hierarchical Concept of Patchiness:Implications for the Foraging Behavior of Hummingbirds

斑块的概念在生态学中被广泛使用，但斑块往往被简单化地看待。斑块的内部结构和斑块周围的镶嵌结构在更小和更大的尺度上都受到斑块的影响。因此，环境可以更真实地被视为由嵌套的补丁层次结构形成的马赛克。这种层次分明的斑块概念可以通过研究食蜜鸟类来检验，因为花蜜资源通常是以分层的方式分布的。斑块的自然层次和实验层次中的斑块结构和背景如何影响宽尾蜂鸟的觅食行为将被研究。将测量花蜜资源自然分布中斑块的等级结构。实验层次包括三个水平的异质性：(1)花序内，(2)斑块内，和(3)斑块之间。等级资源嵌合体对觅食行为的影响可能影响种群水平的过程，如授粉和领土行为。因此，拟议的研究将增加对景观异质性的生态后果的理解。

The concept of a patch is widely used in ecology, but patches are often viewed in a simplistic way. The internal structure of patches and the mosaic surrounding patches are influenced by patchiness at smaller and larger scales. Thus, environments may be viewed more realistically as mosaics formed by a nested hierarchy of patches. This hierarchical concept of patchiness may be examined by studying nectarivorous birds, because nectar resources are often distributed in a hierarchical fashion. How both patch structure and context in natural and experimental hierarchies of patches influence the foraging behavior of broad-tailed hummingbirds (Selasphorus platycercus) will be investigated. The hierarchical structure of patchiness in the natural distribution of nectar resources will be measured. The experimental hierarchy consists of three levels of heterogeneity: (1) within inflorescences (2) within patches, and (3) between patches. The influence of hierarchical resource- mosaics on foraging behavior could influence population-level processes such as pollination and territorial behavior. Thus, the proposed study will increase the understanding of the ecological consequences of landscape heterogeneity.