Collaborative Research: Interacting Effects of Insect Herbivory and Rodent Granivory on Plant Population Dynamics

9727548 Simms在这个合作研究项目中，调查人员解决了生态学中的一个核心问题，即消费者在多大程度上控制了植物种群动态？他们的实地研究旨在确定昆虫和老鼠的消费者改变灌木种群动态的条件。该项目将包括在草地和沙丘上进行的三个独立的野外操作实验。首先，在不同的种植目标植物的地块上控制植虫和花岗动物的密度。第二个实验将包括不同数量羽扇豆种子的地块，以确定种子库的大小如何影响目标植物的招募。第三个实验将通过控制植物密度和地下昆虫的食草性来确定竞争是否影响植物对食草的耐受性或抗性。

9727548 Simms In this collaborative research project the investigators address a central question in ecology, to what extent do consumers control plant population dynamics? Their field study is directed at determining the conditions under which insect and mice consumers alter population dynamics of a shrub. The project will include three separate manipulative field experiments in grasslands and sand dunes. First, the density of insect herbivores and rodent granivores will be manipulated in separate plots planted with the target plant. The second experiment will include plots with different numbers of lupine seeds to determine how seed bank size affects recruitment of the target plant. The third experiment will manipulate plant density and below ground insect herbivory to determine whether competition affects plant tolerance or resistance to herbivory.