OPUS: Plant-animal Interactions and Stochastic Population Dynamics of Understory Plants in Tropical Forests

二十多年前，PI开始调查如何衡量传粉者、种子传播者和食草动物等动物对热带雨林林下植物繁殖成功(适合度)的影响。适合度是很难衡量的，取决于在个体植物的整个生命周期中对关键事件(出生、生长、繁殖和死亡)投入的时间和精力，以及种群中个体之间的事件重叠。有三个主要问题需要解决。首先，在特定的年龄或发育阶段，植物的生长、存活和繁殖受到特定动物的影响有多大？第二，所有年龄或阶段的植物在其自然栖息地内的生长、存活和繁殖的估计是什么？第三，在栖息地稳定或变化的背景下，我们如何将特定阶段的影响与人口统计模式相结合？到目前为止，合成仍然难以捉摸，但可以通过PI和合作者正在开发的分析工具来解决。PI将把她丰富的数据与新的模型结合起来，这些模型结合了当地和全球的环境动力学，并提供了研究多重相互作用影响的新方法。PI旨在促进大学生的发现，促进他们的学习和训练。跨学科方法和新的分析工具将加强研究基础设施。结果将与服务于社会的管理人员分享，以管理热带森林及其不同的生物相互作用。

Over twenty years ago, the PI began an investigation of how to measure the effects that animals like pollinators, seed dispersers and herbivores have on the reproductive success (fitness) of understory plants in tropical rainforests. Fitness is difficult to measure, being determined by the timing and effort invested in key events (birth, growth, reproduction and death) over the full lifetime of an individual plant as well as the overlapping of events among individuals in a population. There are three main issues to address. First, how much is plant growth, survival, reproduction at a given age or developmental stage affected by a particular animal? Second, what are the estimates of growth, survival, and reproduction for all ages or stages of plants within their natural habitats? Third, how can we synthesize the stage-specific effects with the demographic patterns in the context of a stable or a changing habitat? The synthesis has heretofore remained elusive, but can be addressed by analytical tools that are being developed by the PI and collaborators. The PI will synthesize her abundant data with new models that combine local and global environmental dynamics and provide new methods to study the effects of multiple interactions. The PI aims to advance discovery as well as promote learning and training of university students. Interdisciplinary approaches and new analytical tools will enhance research infrastructure. Results will be shared with managers in the service of society to manage tropical forests and their diverse biotic interactions.