Plant Population Regulation: Analysis of a Long-Term Data Set

9615136福勒这项研究解决了种群生物学的核心问题之一：是什么决定了一个物种在自然或半自然生态系统中的个体数量？使用现有的15年数据集，将构建、验证和分析一组分析和模拟模型，以回答本地植物物种德克萨斯禾本科植物的这个问题。回答更广泛问题的一部分将是确定人口规模和结构受到有效监管的程度；另一部分将是确定监管的运作方式。这些模型将包含相邻植物彼此之间的影响、植物的空间排列、植物大小的差异以及所有变量随时间的变化，因为所有这些因素都可能是重要的。虽然只有一个物种将被研究，但关于该物种种群动态的信息将为许多其他植物物种的种群动态提供洞察力，其中一些是入侵杂草、濒危物种，或者像所研究的物种一样，具有重要经济意义的牧草。更好地了解植物种群调节将有助于努力管理杂草，保护稀有和濒危物种，预测食草动物和草食性昆虫对特定植物物种的影响，以及总体上了解和管理植物物种和群落。此外，这项研究中将要开发的人口模型可以很容易地进行修改，使其具有通用性。

9615136 Fowler This study addresses one of the core questions of population biology: What determines the numbers of individuals of a species in a natural or semi-natural ecosystem? Using an existing 15-year data set, a set of analytical and simulation models will be constructed, validated, and analyzed to answer this question for a native plant species, Texas gramagrass. Part of answering the broader question will be determining the extent to which population size and structure is effectively regulated; another part will be determining the way in which that regulation operates. The models will incorporate the effects of neighboring plants on each other, the spatial arrangement of the plants, differences in plant size, and variation over time in all variables, as all of these factors are likely to be important. Although only a single species will be studied, the information obtained about this species' population dynamics will provide insights into the population dynamics of many other plant species, some of which are invasive weeds, endangered species, or, like the study species, economically important range grasses. A better understanding of plant population regulation will contribute to efforts to manage weeds, to preserve rare and endangered species, to predict the effects of grazers and herbivorous insects upon particular plant species, and in general to understand and manage plant species and communities. In addition, the population models to be developed in this study can be easily modified to be of general use.