OPUS: A Synthesis Of Long-Term Research On Moose-Boreal Forest Interactions

在过去的20年里，研究表明，考虑到动物吃的植物材料相对较少，动物可以以意想不到的方式影响生态系统。在美国国家科学基金会的资助下，研究表明，驼鹿通过食用生长迅速、土壤肥力丰富的植物，避免生长缓慢、土壤肥力低下的植物，来影响北方森林。这项工作已发表在各种科学期刊和会议论文集上，并在科学文献和生态学教科书中被高度引用。这项OPUS奖将产生一本书，总结近二十年的研究成果，并将其置于世界各地对驼鹿和其他动物进行类似研究的其他研究人员的发现的背景下。普林斯顿大学出版社有兴趣出版这本书在他们的生态学系列专著，这是广泛阅读和负担得起的研究生和本科生。- 除了是驼鹿如何影响北方森林的案例研究外，这本书还应该是观察，实验和理论方法在科学思想的发展和完善中相互作用的案例研究。开始思考论文项目并想知道如何决定他们可能采取的方向和步骤的学生可能会从阅读如何提出科学问题以及如何做出决定中受益。这本书可用于生态学和野生动物管理的高级课程或研讨会。

During the past 20 years, it has been shown that animals can affect ecosystems in ways that are unexpectedly large considering the relatively small amount of plant material they eat. With NSF funding, it has been shown that moose affect northern forests by eating plants that grow rapidly and enrich soil fertility and avoiding plants that grow slowly and depress soil fertility. This work has been published in a wide variety of scientific journals and conference proceedings and is highly cited in the scientific literature and ecology textbooks. This OPUS award will result in a book summarizing the results of almost two decades of research and placing it in the context of findings of other researchers who have done similar studies on moose and other animals around the world. Princeton University Press is interested in publishing this book in their series of monographs in ecology, which are widely read and affordable by graduate and undergraduate students.Broader Significance. - Besides being a case study of how moose affect northern forests, this book should also be a case study of the interplay between observational, experimental, and theoretical approaches in the development and refinement of scientific ideas. Students who are beginning to think about a thesis project and wondering how to decide the directions and steps they might take may benefit from reading how scientific questions are posed and how decisions are made. This book could be used in advanced classes or seminars in ecology and wildlife management.