EAGER: The causes and consequences of spatial modularity for populations

了解影响动植物种群持续性的因素是生态学的核心，对解释持续环境变化的影响至关重要。空间模块化的概念来源于物理学和社会科学，它有很大的潜力来增加我们对环境变化下人口持续性和景观连通性的理解。在种群生态学中，当资源斑块通过生物的运动与其他斑块高度联系，但与景观中剩余斑块的联系较弱时，空间模块性就出现了。这个探索性研究的早期概念资助（EAGER）项目将通过使用一个高度模块化的、以仙人掌为食的昆虫和斑驳的多刺仙人掌的消费者资源系统来评估空间模块化概念在生态学中的效用。本研究将结合实地实验和调查与网络建模，以解决两个主要目标：估计空间模块化对正在经历栖息地丧失的人口的影响；并找出空间模块化的原因。空间模块化的概念扩展了生态学中关于不同类型元种群的思想，为斑块对连通性的重要性提供了新的见解，并通过确定运动对动力学的空间和非空间作用来补充生态学中斑块聚集的工作。虽然空间模块化在生态学中具有很大的潜力，但没有对这一现象进行实验测试，而且这一现象的原因和后果也很少得到实证关注。该项目将首次测试空间模块化是否会增加元种群持久性，减少栖息地丧失的负面影响，与现有方法相比，是否能更好地预测动态和连通性，并作为种群动态的基本尺度。模块化概念与应用生态学密切相关，例如在环境变化下管理野生动物种群，以及设计栖息地单元以实现保护目标。为了促进这些应用，这个项目将包括为应用科学家和保育工作者举办一个实践培训讲习班，介绍“模块化管理”的概念和应用。此外，该项目将为高中生、本科生和研究生提供实地研究经验，并将支持培养一名定量空间生态学博士后。

Understanding the factors influencing the persistence of animal and plant populations lies at the heart of ecology and is essential for interpreting the effects of ongoing environmental change. The concept of spatial modularity, borrowed from physics and social sciences, has great potential to increase our understanding of population persistence and landscape connectivity under environmental change. In population ecology, spatial modularity occurs when resource patches are highly connected to other patches through movement of organisms, but only weakly connected to the remaining patches in the landscape. This Early Concept Grant for Exploratory Research (EAGER) project will assess the utility of the spatial modularity concept in ecology by using a highly modular, consumer-resource system of a cactus-feeding insect and patchy, prickly pear cactus. This research will couple field experiments and surveys with network modeling to address two major objectives: estimate the consequences of spatial modularity for populations undergoing habitat loss; and identify the causes of spatial modularity. The concept of spatial modularity extends ideas in ecology regarding different types of meta-populations, provides new insight to patch importance for connectivity, and complements work on patch aggregation in ecology by identifying the spatial and non-spatial roles of movement on dynamics. While spatial modularity holds much potential for ecology, no experimental tests of this phenomenon have occurred, and the causes and consequences of this phenomenon have received little empirical attention. This project will be the first to test if spatial modularity increases meta-population persistence, reduces negative effects of habitat loss, better predicts dynamics and connectivity compared to existing approaches, and is a fundamental scale for population dynamics. The modularity concept is highly relevant to applied ecology, e.g., managing wildlife population under environmental change, and designing habitat units to achieve conservation goals. To facilitate these applications, this project will include a practical training workshop for applied scientists and conservation practitioners on the concept and application of "Managing for Modularity". In addition, this project will provide field research experiences for high school, undergraduate, and graduated students, and will support the training of a postdoctoral researcher in quantitative spatial ecology.