Collaborative Research: Species Introductions as Ecological Experiments-Linking Biogeographical Patterns and Ecological Mechanisms

9622787 Mittelbach引入物种的原生范围外，可以提供独特的机会，研究当地和区域尺度上决定物种分布和丰度的因素。 将鱼类引入湖泊是特别有用的，因为它们类似于实验;它们通常是重复的（引入多个湖泊），有控制（附近的湖泊没有接受引入），并且经常被记录（由执行引入的机构记录）。 例如，redear太阳鱼（原产于美国东南部）目前正在引入密歇根湖，那里的南瓜子太阳鱼是土生土长的。 雷迪尔和南瓜籽在形态和生态学上相似（两者都主要以蜗牛为食），预计将进行激烈的竞争。 事实上，在密歇根州的初步研究表明，南瓜种子人口下降了80%后，redear介绍。 本研究利用过去和正在进行的引进到密歇根州湖泊的太阳鱼，再加上太阳鱼的比较研究，在南卡罗来纳州（其中两个物种都是本地的），探讨本地物种引进的后果，研究地理分布的原因，并调查一些生态机制，推动这些关系。 物种引进是人类对自然系统影响的一个越来越常见的来源，但目前几乎没有能力预测其影响，减轻其影响，或区分具有重大影响的引进和相对良性的引进。 这项工作试图将功能形态学，群落生态学和鱼类地理学整合到一个框架中，以帮助解决这些缺点，并解决了一组经济和娱乐重要鱼类的这些问题。

9622787 Mittelbach The introduction of species outside their native ranges can provide unique opportunities to study the factors determining species distributions and abundances on both local and regional scales. Introductions of fishes into lakes are particularly useful because they resemble experiments; they are often replicated (introductions are made to multiple lakes), have controls (nearby lakes that did not receive introductions), and are often documented (recorded by agencies performing the introductions). For example, the redear sunfish (native to the southeastern US) is currently being introduced into Michigan lakes, where the pumpkinseed sunfish is native. The redear and pumpkinseed are similar in morphology and ecology (both feed primarily on snails), and are expected to compete strongly. Indeed, initial studies in Michigan suggest that pumpkinseed populations decline by 80% following redear introduction. The present research makes use of past and ongoing introductions of sunfish into Michigan lakes, coupled with comparative studies of sunfishes in the Carolinas (where both species are native), to explore the consequences of species introductions on native species, examine the causes of geographic distributions, and investigate some of the ecological mechanisms that drive these relationships. Species introductions are an increasingly common source of human impacts on natural systems, yet there is currently little ability to predict their impacts, mitigate their effects, or discriminate between introductions that have major effects and those that are relatively benign. This work attempts to integrate functional morphology, community ecology, and biogeography into a framework that can help resolve these shortcomings, and it addresses these issues in a group of economically and recreationally important fishes.