Species Diversity and Abundance in Insular Systems

这项研究继续调查了顶端捕食者（蜥蜴）是如何通过对中间捕食者（其他昆虫和蜘蛛）和食草动物的影响间接影响植物叶片损伤的数量的。它还研究了降雨变化对这些动态的影响。还在收集关于种群灭绝与种群和物种特征以及捕食者存在的关系的数据。这些研究将对控制特定地区物种数量的因素以及食物网如何动态响应扰动产生新的见解。这项研究为了解上层捕食者如何影响食物网下层物种的种群动态和相互作用，以及自然环境的变化如何直接和间接影响食物网动态提供了新的见解。这项研究的信息对于了解生态系统对气候变化的反应以及农业和林业的生物控制和其他有害生物管理方法具有重要的应用价值。＊＊＊

9317502 Schoener This research continues investigations into how top predators (lizards) affect indirectly, via influences on middle predators (other insects and spiders) and herbivores, the amount of leaf damage on plants. It also examines the effects of variation in rainfall on these dynamics. Data are also being collected on the extinctions of populations in relation to population and species characteristics and presence of predators. These studies will yield new insights on what controls the number of species that occur in given areas and how food webs respond dynamically to perturbation. %%% This research is significant in providing new insights into how top predators influence the population dynamics and interactions of species lower down in the food web and how changes in the physical environment directly and indirectly affect the food-web dynamics. Information from this research could have important applications to understanding ecosystem response to climate change and to biological control and other pest management methods in agriculture and forestry. ***