Linking nutrient flux in a desert food web to the allocation dynamics in lizards: Combining stable isotopes and ecological stoichiometry

将沙漠食物网中的营养通量与蜥蜴的分配动态联系起来：稳定同位素和生态化学计量相结合

• 批准号: 0710128
• 负责人: Blair Wolf
• 金额: $ 1.2万
• 依托单位: University of New Mexico
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2007
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2007-06-15 至 2009-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0710128&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Linking; nutrient; flux; desert; food

Nutrient dynamics within plant-animal communities are critical, yet poorly understood, drivers of the reproductive and population dynamics of predators. This is the first study that attempts to link nutrient allocation in insectivorous lizards to variation in insect prey quality resulting from seasonal and rain-driven variation in plant nutritional quality. At the Sevilleta LTER in New Mexico, summer monsoons drive the production of plants using C4 photosynthesis. These C4 plants are less nutritious for insect consumers than winter-rain-driven, spring dominant C3 plants. This study will measure and use a remarkable combination of naturally occurring differences in stable isotopes, lipid-protein content and seasonal abundance of these plants and insects, interlinked with a laboratory-based experiment, to explore the importance of nutritional variation in C3 and C4 resources for lizard reproduction at seasonal and inter-annual timescales. Broader impacts: This project will broaden the scope of current ecology investigations by linking precipitation and plant growth to the nutritional ecology and reproductive physiology of insect and vertebrate consumers. These data will also provide insight into how climate change may impact the ecology of plant-animal communities. Lastly, this study will enrich middle school science education through collaborations between Sevilleta LTER researchers and GK-12 educators.

植物-动物群落内的营养动态是捕食者生殖和种群动态的关键驱动因素，但人们对此知之甚少。 这是第一项研究，试图将营养分配在食虫蜥蜴的昆虫猎物质量的变化，导致季节性和降雨驱动的植物营养质量的变化。 在新墨西哥州的Sevilleta LTER，夏季季风推动了利用C4光合作用的植物的生产。这些C4植物对昆虫消费者的营养比冬雨驱动，春季占主导地位的C3植物少。本研究将测量和使用这些植物和昆虫的稳定同位素，脂质蛋白质含量和季节性丰度的天然差异的显着组合，与基于实验室的实验相关联，以探索C3和C4资源中营养变化的重要性蜥蜴繁殖在季节和年际时间尺度。更广泛的影响：该项目将通过将降水和植物生长与昆虫和脊椎动物消费者的营养生态学和生殖生理学联系起来，扩大当前生态学调查的范围。这些数据还将提供有关气候变化如何影响动植物群落生态的见解。最后，本研究将通过塞维利亚LTER研究人员和GK-12教育工作者之间的合作，丰富中学科学教育。