Dissertation Research: Understanding the importance of individual variability for population demography using the Bristlecone pine

珊瑚和林木等长寿生物在世界范围内具有重要的生态和经济意义。不幸的是，这类物种的种群趋势很难研究，因为它们发生的速度很慢，而且跨越了许多人的一生。这项研究的重点是在一个独特的、非常适合的研究系统中调查种群变化：加利福尼亚州东部怀特山的高海拔、长寿的刺松林(Pinus Longaeva)。这些树是独一无二的，因为它们的枯木可以完好无损地保存数千年，并可以通过树轮分析准确地确定日期。这些年轮的宽度来自数百棵活的和死的树，可以用来理解个体之间的差异如何影响种群动态。这些刺松种群被认为包含了地球上最长的生命有机体。使用这些树作为研究系统遵循了一个经典而成功的科学策略：将研究生物学极端作为测试和提炼一般理论的一种方式。本论文的工作将开发新的数学种群建模方法，可以应用于许多其他物种，特别是其他长寿物种或个体间存在较大差异的种群。鉴于全球气候迅速变暖的现实，这类预测工具至关重要。

Long-lived organisms such as corals and forest trees are of great worldwide ecological and economic importance. Unfortunately, population trends for such species are difficult to study because they occur slowly and over many human lifetimes. This research focuses on investigating population change in a uniquely well-suited study system: forests of high-altitude, long-lived bristlecone pines (Pinus longaeva) in the White Mountains of eastern California. These trees are unique because their dead wood can remain intact for millennia and can be precisely dated with tree-ring analysis. The widths of these annual rings, sampled from hundreds of living and dead trees, can be used to understand how variation among individuals influences population dynamics.These populations of bristlecone pines are believed to contain the longest living organisms on the planet. Using these trees as a study system follows a classic and successful scientific tactic: to study biological extremes as a way of testing and refining general theory. This dissertation work will develop new approaches to mathematical population modeling that can be applied to many other species, particularly other long-lived species or populations with considerable variation among individuals. These kinds of predictive tools are crucial given the realities of a rapidly warming global climate.