Dissertation Research: Host-Parasitoid Interactions and Habitat Subdivision: The Distribution and Population Dynamics of a Geometric Moth on Dryas

9311208这项研究考察了栖息地片断化和寄主-寄生相互作用在影响生活在自然斑块栖息地的尺寸蛾的分布和种群动态中的作用。它考察了栖息地结构、当地种群的同步性、种群间的扩散以及寄主-寄生蜂相互作用的影响。这项工作结合了野外实验和观测，并在空间上明确的景观上开发了一个离散时间模拟模型，以检查和整合生境细分和寄主-寄生蜂相互作用的影响。了解种群动态和栖息地物种的分布对种群生物学和保护生物学领域都是至关重要的。殖民、灭绝和扩散的动态与捕食者-猎物的动态相互作用，决定了生活在零星分布的生境中的物种的种群过程。在栖息地碎片化和捕食者-猎物相互作用两个领域都存在理论工作。然而，很少有实证研究支持这些理论体系，很少有理论和几乎没有实证研究试图将这两个领域结合起来。集合种群动态越来越多地被用于种群结构的模型，无论是在理论还是在保护的背景下，但是很少有实例显示时间集合种群结构。这项研究提供了建立集合种群的一个例子的潜力。***

9311208 Geber This study examines the roles of habitat fragmentation and host-parasitiod interactions in influencing the distribution and population dynamics of a geometrid moth living in a naturally patchy habitat. It examine the habitat structure, synchrony of local populations, dispersal between populations, and impact of host-parastoid interactions. The work combines field experiments and observations with the development of a discrete time simulation model on a spatially explicit landscape to examine and intergrate the influences of habitat subdivision and host-parasitoid interactions. Understanding the population dynamics and distribution of species occupying subdivided habitats is critical to both the fields of population biology and conservation biology. The dynamics of colonization, extinction and dispersal interacts with predator-prey dynamics to determine population processes for species living in patchily distributed habitats. Theoretical work exists in both the areas of habitat fragmentation and predator-prey interactions. yet, little empirical work stands behind these bodies of theory, and very little theoretical and almost no empirical work has attempted to intergrate the two fields. %%% Metapopulation dynamic's are being increasingly used for models if population structure in both theoretical & conservation contexts, yet there are few examples showing time metapopulation structure. This study offers the potential of establishing an example of a metapopulation. ***