Doctoral Dissertation Research: Multi-Scale Investigation of Environmental and Human Influences on the Distribution of Birds in the Western Amazon

博士论文研究：环境和人类对亚马逊西部鸟类分布影响的多尺度调查

• 批准号: 0526582
• 负责人: Kenneth Young
• 金额: $ 1.19万
• 依托单位: University of Texas at Austin
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2005
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2005-08-15 至 2007-01-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0526582&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Multi; Scale

Among the hypothesized causes of biogeographic diversity are spatial and temporal variability in ecological conditions, such as climate, soil type, topography, competition among species, dispersal abilities of species, and historical climate changes. Additional complexity is contributed by human influences, including hunting, agriculture, and forestry. This doctoral dissertation research project will use standardized biological surveys across variable forest landscapes in the western Amazon basin to test the relative influence of these different factors on the geographical distribution of bird species assemblages. Measurable proxies used to test hypothesized causes of diversity include plant species composition, structural characteristics of the forest, elevation, location relative to major dispersal barriers (rivers) and hypothesized biogeographic zones (ecoregions), distances among sites, and accessibility relative to local human settlements and regional markets. The relative influence of plant species composition vs. the physical structure of vegetation is of particular interest for investigating habitat selection in birds. Analysis of associations at local, landscape, and regional scales will test effects of spatial scale. Spatial patterns will be investigated for all bird species together and for subsets of species. Examining ecologically and phylogenetically defined species groups will allow the identification of diversity in the ways different groups may respond to particular influences. For example, hunting pressure is expected to disproportionately affect large-bodied species. If particular species groups reflect patterns observed more generally in the bird community, those groups may be identified as indicator groups that can improve the efficiency of future survey work. Results of this study may identify more complex situations in which different groups of bird species respond at different spatial scales to different factors. Nonetheless, the identification of robust associations between bird species assemblage distributions and explanatory factors may allow the inference of patterns of community distinctiveness across wide areas, subject to validation with new survey data.Basic information about the spatial distribution of biodiversity at landscape and regional scales is relatively scarce in the Amazon basin, and the biogeographic classification of landscapes is therefore a basic goal of this research. Furthermore, the integrative approach taken by this research will help advance biogeographic theory by quantitatively assessing the biodiversity status of particular places as outcomes of multiple cultural and natural processes operating at multiple spatial scales. The production and integration of multiple forms of biogeographic information also can play a key role in the development of sustainable cultural landscapes, because biologically distinctive places have distinctive conservation values and resource use potentials. Geographic information that informs conservation and development planning is of particular value in areas where growth and landscape change are occurring rapidly, such as this project's study area surrounding the city of Iquitos in the Peruvian Amazon. As a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement award, this award also will provide support to enable a promising student to establish a strong independent research career.

生物地理多样性的假设原因包括生态条件的时空变化，例如气候、土壤类型、地形、物种间的竞争、物种的扩散能力和历史气候变化。 人类的影响造成了额外的复杂性，包括狩猎、农业和林业。 该博士论文研究项目将利用对亚马逊盆地西部可变森林景观的标准化生物调查来测试这些不同因素对鸟类组合地理分布的相对影响。 用于测试假设的多样性原因的可测量指标包括植物物种组成、森林的结构特征、海拔、相对于主要扩散障碍（河流）和假设的生物地理区域（生态区）的位置、地点之间的距离以及相对于当地人类住区和区域市场的可达性。 植物物种组成与植被物理结构的相对影响对于研究鸟类栖息地选择特别重要。 对当地、景观和区域尺度的关联分析将测试空间尺度的影响。 将对所有鸟类以及物种子集的空间模式进行研究。 检查生态学和系统发育学定义的物种群体将有助于识别不同群体对特定影响的反应方式的多样性。 例如，狩猎压力预计会对大型物种产生不成比例的影响。 如果特定物种群体反映了在鸟类群落中更普遍观察到的模式，那么这些群体可以被确定为可以提高未来调查工作效率的指标群体。 这项研究的结果可能会识别出更复杂的情况，其中不同的鸟类物种在不同的空间尺度上对不同的因素做出反应。 尽管如此，确定鸟类组合分布和解释因素之间的强有力关联可能有助于推断大范围的群落独特性模式，并需要用新的调查数据进行验证。亚马逊流域景观和区域尺度上生物多样性空间分布的基本信息相对匮乏，因此景观的生物地理分类是本研究的基本目标。 此外，本研究采用的综合方法将通过定量评估特定地点的生物多样性状况（作为在多个空间尺度上运行的多种文化和自然过程的结果）来帮助推进生物地理学理论。 多种形式的生物地理信息的产生和整合也可以在可持续文化景观的发展中发挥关键作用，因为生物特色场所具有独特的保护价值和资源利用潜力。 为保护和发展规划提供信息的地理信息在经济增长和景观变化迅速发生的地区具有特别的价值，例如本项目研究的秘鲁亚马逊地区伊基托斯市周围的区域。 作为博士论文研究改进奖，该奖项还将为有前途的学生建立强大的独立研究生涯提供支持。