RUI Collaborative Research: The Interactive Effects of Spatial and Temporal Patch Structure on Faunal Dynamics

[9319074] Botts的理论研究认为，在异质和/或受干扰的环境中，生境斑块的时空排列可能对种群规模和持久性有很强的影响。很少有实验研究探讨空间布局和斑块年龄对当地种群动态的交互影响。在这项研究中，PI将进行一系列实验，以确定斑块之间的距离和斑块年龄如何影响斑块生物的丰度和分布。试验生物将是木本/叶类碎屑实验斑块中的无脊椎动物。首先，PI将通过测量特定物种在野外的扩散距离来确定动物可能对斑块排列做出反应的空间尺度。接下来，将设计实验来控制斑块之间的距离和斑块年龄，然后根据种群的丰度和分布监测物种的反应。这项研究与斑块动力学的理论和实证研究广泛相关，并且对地理生态学家特别感兴趣，因为它解决了栖息地异质性和动物在溪流中的分散如何相互作用，以确保种群在高度可变的环境中持续存在。此外，这项工作将提供理论模型的第一个实证应用之一，该模型建议在研究空间栖息地异质性时使用分散能力作为尺度函数。

9319074 Botts Theoretical studies have argued that the spatial and temporal arrangement of habitat patches may have a strong influence on population size and persistence in environments that are heterogeneous and/or disturbed. Few experimental studies have addressed the interactive effects of spatial arrangement and patch age on local population dynamics. In this research, the PI's will conduct a set of experiments to determine how the distance between patches and patch age influence the abundances and distributions of patch-dwelling organisms. The test organisms will be stream invertebrates within experimental patches of woody/leafy debris. First, the PI's will determine the spatial scale over which fauna potentially can respond to patch arrangement by measuring species-specific dispersal distances in the field. Next, experiments will be designed to manipulate the distance among patches and patch age, followed by monitoring species responses based on population abundance and distribution. %%% This research is broadly relevant to both theoretical and empirical investigations of patch dynamics and it is of particular interest to lotic ecologists because it addresses how habitat heterogeneity and faunal dispersal in streams interact to ensure population persistence in highly variable environments. in addition, this work will provide one of the first empirical applications of theoretical models which suggest using dispersal ability as a scaling function when studying spatial habitat heterogeneity.