Collaborative Research: Linking Dispersal to Landscape-level Dynamics of a Predator and Prey

原生生境的破碎和丧失与全世界生物多样性的下降有关。因此，生物体在生境片段之间的移动对于它们的持久性至关重要。描述生物在真实的景观中的运动行为是令人生畏和费力的，特别是当考虑相互作用的物种时，如捕食者和猎物。通过之前的NSF资助，克罗宁积累了一个全面的数据集，关于景观结构（碎片大小，隔离和周围栖息地的组成）如何影响稻飞虱及其主要捕食者（寄生虫）的运动行为，这些捕食者存在于高草草原物种（草原灯心草）的离散斑块中。主要目标是开发一个空间上现实的，栖息地水平的模型，将揭示栖息地破碎化和损失的影响，以及外来植物物种的入侵对捕食者-猎物种群的持久性的机制。景观模型将使用克罗宁获得的运动数据开发。 在这个模型的发展的主要目标是创建一套软件程序，可以应用到广泛的捕食系统。希望这些计划将导致一个更明智的保护水平的方法来制定成功的保护战略，为受威胁或濒危物种。本项目将为北达科他州的2名博士生和4-6名本科生提供培训。学生将被鼓励在研究中发挥领导作用。这两个PI将教授解决栖息地破碎化对生物多样性和景观建模的影响的课程。

Fragmentation and loss of native habitats have been implicated in the decline of biodiversity worldwide. As a consequence, movement of organisms among habitat fragments is essential for their persistence. Characterizing the movement behavior of organisms in real landscapes is daunting and laborious, especially when considering interacting species such as a predator and its prey. Through previous NSF funding, Cronin has amassed a comprehensive data set on how landscape structure (fragment size, isolation, and composition of surrounding habitat) affects the movement behavior of a planthopper and its primary predator (a parasitoid) that exist among discrete patches of a tall-grass prairie species (prairie cordgrass). The main objective is to develop a spatially realistic, landscape-level model that will reveal the mechanisms underlying the effects of habitat fragmentation and loss, and the invasion of exotic plant species on the persistence of predator-prey populations. The landscape model will be developed using movement data obtained by Cronin. A primary goal in the development of this model is to create a suite of software programs that can be applied to a wide range of predator-prey systems. It is hoped that these programs will lead to a more informed landscape-level approach to developing successful conservation strategies for threatened or endangered species. This project will provide training for 2 PhD students and 4-6 undergraduates in North Dakota. Students will be encouraged to play a leadership role in the research. Both PIs will teach courses that address the effects of habitat fragmentation on biodiversity and on landscape modeling.