Mechanisms and Consequences of Resource Competition in a Desert Grassland

在这个建议中，P.I.发展了一个竞争的机制模型，该模型预测了植物对资源的利用如何影响个体竞争能力和沿生产力梯度的种群水平竞争结果。该模型基于对竞争能力的两个组成部分的分离：耗尽资源的能力和容忍资源耗尽的能力。利用这两种类型的植物-资源相互作用来预测植物-植物净相互作用的结果是复杂的，因为相互作用植物的相对大小决定了好的耗竭者或好的耐受性者是更好的竞争对手，因为耗竭和耐受性能力是由不同的植物性状决定的。研究人员对这些关系进行了具体的预测，并描述了在沙漠草原群落中进行测试的实验，这些模型应该对许多植物群落，包括世界范围内的濒危植物群落具有重要意义。

In this proposal the P.I. develops a mechanistic model of competition that makes predictions about how resource use by plants influences both individual competitive ability and the population-level outcome of competition along productivity gradients. The model is based on separating two components of competitive ability: ability to deplete resources and ability to tolerate depleted resources. Using these two types of plant- resource interactions to predict the outcome of net plant-plant interactions is complex because the relative sizes of interacting plants determine whether good depletors or good tolerators are the superior competitors and because depletion and tolerance abilities are determined by different plant traits. The investigators develops specific predictions about these relationships and describe experiments to test them in a desert grassland community such models should have significant implication for many plant communities, included those endangered worldwide.