RUI: Mammalian Herbivores as Consumers and Fertilizers: Consequences for Community Structure and Ecosystem Dynamics

RUI：作为消费者和肥料的哺乳动物草食动物：群落结构和生态系统动态的后果

• 批准号: 9981663
• 负责人: J. Hall Cushman
• 金额: $ 30万
• 依托单位: Sonoma State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2000
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2000-03-15 至 2006-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9981663&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: RUI; Mammalian; Herbivores; Consumers; Fertilizers

Prop #: 9981663Title: Mammalian Herbivores as Consumers and Fertilizers - Consequences For Community Structure and Ecosystem DynamicsMammalian herbivores can be extremely influential in terrestrial systems, although they commonly have variable and often opposing effects on plant communities and ecosystems. Identifying the causes of this variation is central for efforts to understand and generalize about the effects of these herbivores in nature. This research considers two fundamentally different herbivore species along the coast of northern California, and addresses four questions: 1) Do black-tailed deer and jackrabbits have different effects on plant communities and ecosystems through their activities as consumers versus fertilizers, through the deposition of metabolic wastes? 2) Does the relative importance of consumer and fertilizer effects vary between dune and grassland habitats? 3) Do the contrasting feeding preferences of deer and jackrabbits lead to different effects on plant communities and soil fertility in the same coastal system? And 4) Through long-term browsing on a nitrogen-fixing shrub, do herbivores decrease soil fertility in a nutrient-deficient dune system? This project will make a significant contribution to understanding vertebrate-plant interactions.

道具编号：9981663标题：作为消费者和肥料的食草哺乳动物-对群落结构和生态系统动态的影响食草哺乳动物在陆地系统中具有极大的影响力，尽管它们通常对植物群落和生态系统具有可变的且往往相反的影响。 确定这种变化的原因是努力理解和概括这些食草动物在自然界中的影响的核心。 这项研究考虑了两个根本不同的食草动物物种沿着加州北方海岸，并解决了四个问题：1）黑尾鹿和长耳大野兔有不同的影响，通过他们的活动，消费者和肥料，通过沉积代谢废物的植物群落和生态系统？ 2)消费者和肥料效应的相对重要性在沙丘和草地生境之间是否不同？ 3)鹿和长耳大野兔不同的摄食偏好是否会对同一海岸系统中的植物群落和土壤肥力产生不同的影响？ 在养分缺乏的沙丘系统中，食草动物通过长期啃食固氮灌木，是否会降低土壤肥力？ 该项目将为理解脊椎动物-植物相互作用做出重大贡献。