RUI Collaborative Research: Inquiline Communities in Changeable Pitchers: Do Nutrients Link Community Assembly to Dynamic Habitats

PIs: Gotelli, n.j.和A.M.院校：佛蒙特大学和霍利奥克山学院提案编号：DEB - 9808504 &amp； 9805722社区组装理论将通过检查北部猪笼草和生活在其中的生物来扩展。本研究将建立栖居于猪笼草中的inquiline生物模型，同时进行实地和实验室实验，以阐明驱动群落定植、持久性、生长和动态的因素，特别是与植物内营养动态相关的因素。这项工作将提供一个概述的联系之间的inquiline社区和他们的宿主猪笼草。考虑到植物性能与不同的inquiline群落将扩大以往的努力，强调这些协会的动物成分。单个叶片的马尔可夫模型将与猪笼草生长的矩阵模型相结合，以评估这些沼泽生境中植物的整体生长和氮磷限制的作用。更一般地说，收集的数据将有助于开发、改进和测试动态生境中群落聚集的数学模型。这种模式将整合广泛的生态特征，最终将适用于各种社区组合。

PIs: Gotelli, N.J., and A.M. EllisonInstitutions: University of Vermont and Mt. Holyoke CollegeProposal Numbers: DEB - 9808504 & 9805722Theories of community assembly will be expanded by examining northern pitcher plants and the organisms that live within them. This work will develop models of the inquiline organisms that inhabit pitchers while conducting field and laboratory experiments to elucidate the factors driving community colonization, persistence, growth, and dynamics particularly as related to in-plant nutrient dynamics. This work will provide an overview of the linkages between inquiline communities and their host pitcher plants. Considerations of plant performance with different inquiline communities will expand upon previous efforts that have emphasized the animal component of these associations. Markovian models on individual leaves will be combined with matrix models of pitcher-plant growth to assess overall plant growth and the roles of N and P limitation in these bog habitats. More generally, the data gathered will enable the development, refinement, and testing of a mathematical model of community assembly in dynamic habitats. This model will integrate a broad range of ecological features and will eventually be applicable to a diversity of community assemblages.