Dissertation Research: Preference and performance in plant-herbivore interactions across latitutde

研究多样性和物种相互作用的纬度模式很重要，因为它可以揭示地理和气候对生态过程的根本影响。研究表明，高纬度的植物更适合食草动物。然而，目前还不清楚植物适口性的提高是否会导致食草动物性能的提高。如果是这样的话，更好的食草动物表现是否可以用更好的植物营养质量来解释？为了回答这些问题，该项目使用了来自美国大西洋海岸从佛罗里达州到缅因州的16个盐沼地点的植物和相关的草食动物。这个项目是在野外测量植物特征和食草动物的大小，以及在实验室测量食草动物的表现。初步数据表明，来自高纬度的植物支持更好的食草动物生长。高纬度植物是否更有营养正在由该计划资助的化学分析进行调查。该项目将有助于对生态过程进行更大范围的理解，这一点很重要，因为人类面临着全球变化和其他大规模人为影响的后果。此外，它还将支持一名研究生的博士研究。

Studying latitudinal patterns in diversity and species interactions is important because it can reveal fundamental effects of geography and climate on ecological processes. Research has shown that plants at higher latitudes are more palatable to herbivores. However, it is unknown if increased palatability of plants will lead to increased performance of herbivores. If it does, is better herbivore performance explained by better plant nutritional quality? To answer these questions, this project is using plants and associated herbivores from 16 salt marsh sites along the U.S. Atlantic Coast, from Florida to Maine. This project is measuring plant traits and herbivore sizes in the field, and herbivore performance in the laboratory. Preliminary data indicated that plants from high latitudes supported better herbivore growth. Whether high latitude plants are more nutritious is being investigated by chemical analyses funded by this proposal.This project will help develop a larger-scale understanding of ecological process, which is important as humans face the consequences of global change and other anthropogenic impacts that act at large scales. In addition, it will support the Ph.D. research of one graduate student.