Trophic Dynamics in Human-dominated Ecosystems

人类主导的生态系统中的营养动态

• 批准号: 0444228
• 负责人: Stanley Faeth
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Arizona State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2005
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2005-03-01 至 2009-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0444228&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Trophic; Dynamics; Human; dominated; Ecosystems

Urbanization is the most rapidly increasing land use type worldwide. We already know that biodiversity is radically altered in cities. However, we do not know what factors control the trophic or feeding structure of urban communities, and how these controls differ from less human-dominated or natural environments. For example, reduction of predators in cities could mean that herbivores (consumers of plants) increase dramatically and are controlled only by resources or stress. Our research will determine the relative effects of resources, stress, and natural enemies (predator and parasites) in cities on herbivore and predator abundances and diversity, and plant biomass.Our research addresses fundamental questions - How is trophic structure and dynamics influenced by urbanization and, are trophic dynamics different in cities than in less human dominated ecosystems? This research will provide insights into how food webs and their associated biodiversity and ecosystem services can be maintained in urban settings. This research is closely linked to educational and K-12 outreach programs (e.g., Ecology Explorers), as well as partnerships with state and local governments and businesses. Some of our experimental sites are K-12 schoolyards, where K-12 teachers and students will directly participate in the experiments and interact with ASU faculty and graduate students.

城市化是世界范围内增长最快的土地利用类型。我们已经知道，生物多样性在城市中发生了根本性的变化。然而，我们不知道是什么因素控制着城市社区的营养或摄食结构，以及这些控制与人类主导或自然环境的不同之处。例如，城市中捕食者的减少可能意味着食草动物（植物的消费者）急剧增加，并且只受资源或压力的控制。我们的研究将确定城市中资源、压力和天敌（捕食者和寄生虫）对食草动物和捕食者丰度和多样性以及植物生物量的相对影响。我们的研究解决了基本问题-城市化如何影响营养结构和动态，城市中的营养动态与人类较少主导的生态系统不同吗？这项研究将深入了解如何在城市环境中维持食物网及其相关的生物多样性和生态系统服务。这项研究与教育和K-12外展计划密切相关（例如，生态探索者），以及与州和地方政府和企业的伙伴关系。我们的一些实验地点是K-12校园，K-12教师和学生将直接参与实验，并与ASU教师和研究生互动。