Dissertation Research: The Influence of Landscape Heterogeneity on Insect Population Dynamics

小行星9410872 当今世界的生态景观越来越多地以棋盘般的马赛克为特征，包括城市，农业和自然环境在内的各种栖息地。 生态学家还没有设计出一个通用的理论来确定这些影响，更重要的是，混合景观可能对居民种群产生影响的机制。 研究人员选择进行一项田间实验，其中将非作物植被（例如杂草）纳入农田。 实验设计包括不同规模的作物和杂草的不同混合物，以便研究人员可以确定这种混合物在各种一般农田场景中的有用性。 来自这些实验性田间测试的数据将被纳入不同的数学模型，以期阐明田间运行的机制。 这种混合的生态学和理论将导致一个协议，以确定在任何给定的设置，如何以及在什么规模混合景观类型可能会影响昆虫种群。 将野外实验中获得的数据转化为数学模型将推广到许多不同的现实生活场景，其中生物体在不同景观的组合中移动。 鉴于目前景观日益破碎化和人口压力日益增加的趋势，任何这种将农业生产与自然植被相结合的一般性准则都应是一个重要贡献。

9410872 KAREIVA The ecological landscape in today's world is becoming increasingly characterized by a checkerboard-like mosaic of diverse habitats encompassing urban, agricultural, and natural environments. Ecologists have yet to devise a general theory pinpointing the effects, and more importantly, the mechanisms behind the effects that mixed landscapes may have upon resident populations. The investigators have chosen to conduct a field experiment in which non-crop vegetation (e.g. weeds) is incorporated into a crop field. The experimental design includes varying mixtures of crop and weed at different scales as well, so that investigators can determine the usefulness of such mixtures in a variety of general farmland scenarios. The data from these experimental field tests will be incorporated into different mathematical models, in the hopes of elucidating the mechanisms operating in the field. This mix of empiricism and theory will lead to a protocol for determining, in any given setting, how and at what scale mixing landscape types may affect insect populations. Incorporating data obtained in field experiments into mathematical models will generalize to many different real-life scenarios in which organisms move through combinations of diverse landscapes. Any such general guidelines combining agricultural production and natural vegetation should be an important contribution ln light of the current trend towards increasing landscape fragmentation as well as increasing population pressure.