Ecological Mechanisms and Scaling in Heterogeneous Grassland Ecosystems

异质草地生态系统的生态机制和尺度

• 批准号: 9207010
• 负责人: John Wiens
• 金额: $ 20万
• 依托单位: Colorado State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 1992
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1992-08-01 至 1996-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9207010&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Ecological; Mechanisms; Scaling; Heterogeneous; Grassland

The proposed research will (a) develop theory linking the responses of individuals to spatial variation in population and ecosystem dynamics; (b) test such theory by experimental field studies and simulation modeling; (c) determine how ecological features vary with spatial scale and whether "rules" can be defined for extrapolating among scales; and (d) extend this work to systems composed of tropically linked species. The field research, conducted in a semiarid grassland ecosystem, will involve experimental studies of responses of tenebrionid beetles to the spatial structure of "microlandscapes" and to variations in spatial patterns at broader scales. Individual movement patterns at fine scales will be coupled with long-distance movements to determine how individual behavior translates into population distribution. Experiments with harvester ants will be used to determine how the removal and transport of seeds are affected by the spatial structure of ecosystems. Scaling relationships among linked trophic levels will be investigated using horned lizard-ant and longspur-grasshopper systems. The research bears directly on current issues in ecological scaling and extrapolation, flows of materials across patch boundaries, empirical testing of spatial models, and the development of an experimental and theoretical approach to landscape ecology.

拟议的研究将(a)发展将个人对人口和生态系统动态的空间变化的反应联系起来的理论；(b)通过实地实验研究和模拟建模来检验该理论；(c)确定生态特征如何随空间尺度而变化，以及是否可以定义“规则”，以便在不同尺度之间进行外推；(d)将这项工作扩展到由热带联系物种组成的系统。在半干旱草原生态系统中进行的实地研究将涉及拟甲甲虫对“微景观”空间结构和更大尺度空间格局变化的反应的实验研究。个体在精细尺度上的运动模式将与远距离运动相结合，以确定个体行为如何转化为种群分布。对收获蚁的实验将用于确定种子的移除和运输如何受到生态系统空间结构的影响。将使用角蜥蜴-蚂蚁和长刺-蚱蜢系统调查关联营养水平之间的缩放关系。该研究直接涉及当前生态尺度和外推、斑块边界间的物质流动、空间模型的实证检验以及景观生态学实验和理论方法的发展等问题。