Starter Grant: Testing simulation models of animal movement under thermoregulatory constraint

将经典生态学理论扩展到空间动力学是当代生态学研究中最令人兴奋的领域之一，有可能改变我们对许多系统的基本理解。这一概念在动物如何对环境中温度变化做出反应方面尤其正确，无论是在动物家园范围内的小空间尺度上，还是在动物分布范围内的大空间尺度上。由于许多动物依靠环境热源来调节体温，因此这种热源在自然环境中的分布时间和地点将决定动物是否能够在特定区域持续存在，或者动物如何分散到不同的栖息地。最近，计算机建模技术已经发展到预测动物应该如何在复杂的热景观中移动，基于生理速率和热偏好。这些模型表明，环境温度变化更大，或者有更多孤立的有利栖息地斑块的环境，应该会给温度调节生物带来更高的能量成本，因为动物在寻找有利栖息地时必须移动更远的距离。这项研究将用活生物体的真实数据来检验这些理论模型。利用Sphaerodactylus壁虎（地球上最小的脊椎动物之一），在一个受控的实验室环境中收集温度调节和扩散的行为数据，在那里可以精确地控制环境温度的复杂性。这个实验装置代表了一个模型系统，据此可以评估动物对温度变化的潜在反应。这项工作的结果将有助于研究人员评估气候变化对自然界动物种群的影响。潜在的应用包括预测栖息地变化的适宜性，根据环境温度分布预测物种范围，或预测环境温度变化对迁徙路线的潜在影响。

Extending classical ecological theory to include spatial dynamics represents one of the most exciting areas of contemporary ecological research, potentially changing our fundamental understanding of many systems. This notion is particularly true with regard to how animals respond to variation in temperatures found within the environment, both at small spatial scales within an animal's home range or over large spatial scales across an animal's distributional range. Because many animals rely on environmental sources of heat to regulate their body temperature, when and where such heat sources are distributed in natural environments will determine whether an animal can persist in a particular area or how animals might disperse across different patches of habitat. Recently, computer modeling techniques have been developed to predict how animals should move through complex thermal landscapes based on physiological rates and thermal preferences. These models suggest that environments with more variable environmental temperatures, or with more isolated favorable habitat patches, should incur higher energetic costs for thermoregulating organisms because animals will have to move longer distances while searching for favorable habitat. This study will test such theoretical models with real data in living organisms. Using Sphaerodactylus geckos (one of the smallest vertebrate organisms on Earth), behavioral data on temperature regulation and dispersal will be collected in a controlled laboratory setting where the complexity of environmental temperatures can be precisely manipulated. This experimental setup represents a model system whereby potential animal responses to changes in temperature can be evaluated. Results from this work will help researchers evaluate the influence of changing climates on animal populations in nature. Potential applications include predicting the suitability of altered habitats, predicting species ranges based on distributions of environmental temperature, or predicting potential impacts on migration routes due to changing environmental temperatures.