Effects of Habitat Fragmentation on Consumer-Resource Dynamics in Environments Varying in Space and Time

在世界所有地区，人类活动将栖息地分割成空间上孤立的部分。很明显，这种隔离会损害动物的数量。特别是，有证据表明，单位栖息地面积上的动物数量随着栖息地面积的减少而减少。发生这种情况的原因人们知之甚少。栖息地面积对种群密度的影响的一个可能解释是，栖息地分散的动物限制了它们获得生存和繁殖所需的各种食物的机会。这项拟议的工作将检验栖息地碎片化通过限制动物获取食物多样性而导致种群密度下降的假设。研究人员将进行一项实验，让一群蝗虫能够接触到各种不同质量的食物，这些食物在空间和时间上都不同。另一个相同规模的种群将被划分为子种群，每个子种群获得总资源范围的机会将受到限制。研究人员还将构建碎片化对消费者和资源之间互动影响的数学模型。这项工作将改善世界范围内人类土地利用决策的科学基础。此外，我们将利用该项目为研究生提供数学、生态学和统计学方面的跨学科培训的研究问题。

In all regions of the world, human activities fragment habitats into spatially isolated parts. It is clear this isolation can harm populations of animals. In particular, there is evidence that the number of animals per unit area of habitat declines as the area of habitat decreases. The reasons why this occurs are poorly understood. A possible explanation for the effect of habitat area on population density is that animals in fragmented habitats have restricted access to variety in the foods they need to survive and reproduce. The proposed work will test the hypotheses that habitat fragmentation causes reduced population density by restricting access of animals to diversity in the foods. Researchers will conduct an experiment where one population of grasshoppers has access to a wide range of foods that vary in quality over space and time. Another population of the same size will be divided into subpopulations, each of which will have limited access to the total range of resources. Researchers will also construct mathematical models of fragmentation effects on interactions between consumers and resources. This work will improve the scientific foundation for decisions on human land-use world wide. In addition, we will use the project to provide research problems for interdisciplinary training to graduate students in mathematics, ecology, and statistics.