EAGER:The 'Keystone Community Concept' as a probe to understand metacommunity ecology.

理解生态群落的经典方法是基于生态位，并将当地环境条件与群落中发现的物种联系起来。最近对这一方法的挑战强调了在更广泛的空间尺度上行动的过程的重要性，例如扩散和灭绝。虽然自然群落可能同时受到地方和区域因素的影响，但这些因素之间的相互作用一直很难研究。这个急切的项目将开发新的理论、统计工具和实验方案，以量化扩散限制、灭绝和基于生态位的群落聚集在自然、未受操纵的群落中的作用。由于几乎没有提出的方法是彻底开发的，所以这项研究是有风险的。它承诺将把社区生态领域从目前对社区监管的二分法和简单化的观点转变为一种在广泛的空间尺度上整合不同过程的观点。通过扩展现有理论和开发新的统计工具箱在自然群落中检验这一理论，这项工作将对一般生态学领域做出重大贡献。结果将直接适用于生物多样性保护方面的关键问题。该项目将包括一个研讨会，以巩固理论元群落生态学和保护生物学之间的联系。通过这次研讨会，主要是理论上的研究将获得实际应用。本科生、研究生和一名博士后研究员将参与该项目，获得理论与实验相结合的经验。该项目还将与德克萨斯大学的U Teach项目合作，聘请中学教师。

The classical approach to understanding ecological communities is based on the niche, and relates local environmental conditions to the species found in a community. Recent challenges to this approach emphasize the importance of processes that act over broader spatial scales, such as dispersal and extinction. While it is likely that natural communities are influenced by both local and regional factors, the interaction between these has been extremely difficult to study. This EAGER project will develop new theory, statistical tools, and experimental protocols to quantify the roles of dispersal limitation, extinction, and niche-based community assembly in natural, unmanipulated communities. Because few of the proposed approaches are thoroughly developed, the research is risky. It promises to transform the field of community ecology from its current dichotomous and therefore simplistic view of community regulation to one that integrates diverse processes across broad spatial scales. As a result, scientific understanding of natural communities and the maintenance of biodiversity will be significantly improved.By extending existing theory and developing a new, statistical toolbox to test this theory in natural communities, the work will contribute significantly to the general field of ecology. Results will be directly applicable to critical questions in conservation of biodiversity. The project will involve a workshop to consolidate links between theoretical metacommunity ecology and conservation biology. Through this workshop, research that is primarily theoretical will gain practical application. Undergraduate students, graduate students and a postdoctoral researcher will participate in the project, gaining experience in linking theory with experimentation. The project will also engage secondary school teachers in association with the University of Texas U Teach program.