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

在过去的20年里，已经有证据表明，考虑到动物吃的植物材料相对较少，它们可以以出人意料的方式影响生态系统。在NSF的资助下，研究表明，驼鹿通过吃生长迅速、肥沃的植物和避开生长缓慢、降低土壤肥力的植物来影响北部森林。这项工作已在各种科学期刊和会议记录上发表，并在科学文献和生态学教科书中被大量引用。这一作品奖将产生一本书，总结近20年的研究结果，并将其与其他研究人员的发现放在一起，这些研究人员对世界各地的驼鹿和其他动物进行了类似的研究。普林斯顿大学出版社有兴趣出版他们的生态学系列专著中的这本书，这些专著被研究生和本科生广泛阅读，负担得起。-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、实验和理论方法在发展和完善科学思想方面相互作用的案例研究。开始思考一个论文项目，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和如何做出决定中受益。这本书可以在生态学和野生动物管理的高级课程或研讨会上使用。

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.