LTREB: Population and community ecology of desert winter annuals

LTREB：沙漠冬季一年生植物的种群和群落生态

• 批准号: 0717466
• 负责人: D. Lawrence Venable
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Arizona
• 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: 2007-08-15 至 2009-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0717466&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: LTREB; Population; community; ecology; desert

This project will continue recording population and community dynamics of desert winter annual plants that was begun 25 years ago on permanent plots at the Desert Laboratory near Tucson, AZ, USA. It will provide an understanding of demographic variation and its role in population and community ecology. Soil seed reserves will be monitored to determine the fraction of seeds that germinate and the fraction that persist in dormancy. Experiments will determine the role of granivores in lowering the populations of desert annuals and determine when seeds die during the year. Models will be constructed to determine the role of soil seed banks in buffering populations and how species differences promote coexistence and species diversity. Calibrating the 25 year data set with weather data will permit predictions of biotic responses to climate change.Desert annual plants have played an important role as model organisms in understanding how organisms adapt to variable and unpredictable environments. They have also been used to exemplify ideas about non-equilibrium community dynamics. This project will provide the best available long-term data to test these ideas. This research will combine research and education by involving students in mentoring and research, emphasizing underrepresented groups.

该项目将继续记录25年前在美国亚利桑那州图森市附近的沙漠实验室永久地块上开始的沙漠冬季一年生植物的种群和群落动态。它将提供对人口变异及其在人口和群落生态中的作用的理解。将监测土壤种子储备，以确定发芽的种子比例和持续休眠的比例。实验将确定粒食动物在减少沙漠一年生植物数量方面的作用，并确定种子在一年中死亡的时间。将建立模型，以确定土壤种子库在缓冲种群中的作用，以及物种差异如何促进共存和物种多样性。用天气数据校准25年的数据集，将能够预测生物对气候变化的反应。沙漠一年生植物作为模式生物，在理解生物如何适应可变和不可预测的环境方面发挥了重要作用。它们也被用来举例说明关于非平衡社区动态的想法。该项目将提供最好的可用长期数据来检验这些想法。这项研究将把研究和教育结合起来，让学生参与指导和研究，强调代表性不足的群体。