OPUS: A general, resource-based explanation for density dependence in populations of mammalian herbivores

OPUS：对哺乳动物食草动物种群密度依赖性的一般性、基于资源的解释

• 批准号: 1753860
• 负责人: N. Thompson Hobbs
• 金额: $ 17.92万
• 依托单位: Colorado State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2018-09-01 至 2022-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1753860&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: OPUS; general; resource; based; explanation

A relationship known as density dependence informs wise management of populations of wild and domestic herbivores (for example, deer, elk, cattle, and sheep) throughout the world. This relationship, observed in dozens of species in scores of habitats, consistently shows that the number of surviving offspring produced per female declines as the number of individuals in the population increases. Managing the harvest of these species depends on understanding this relationship because the largest harvests are sustained when populations are neither too big nor too small. Despite the importance of density dependence to hunters, pastoralists, and ranchers worldwide, the mechanism producing this relationship remains poorly understood. The goal of this project is to improve our general understanding of the mechanism causing density dependence in herbivore populations. Achieving this goal could fundamentally change how wildlife, livestock, and rangelands are managed. Impacts of the work will be expanded by summarizing the effects of density dependence on harvest of wild and domestic herbivores in media accessible to managers and policy makers. Recommendations for best practices will be made based on the research.A synthesis of thirty years of research on foraging behavior and population dynamics of large mammalian herbivores will support development of new, broadly explanatory mathematical and statistical models showing how nutritional characteristics of plant communities create density dependence. These models will predict how density dependence is altered by animal body mass, the biomass of plants, and the mean and variance of nutrient concentrations in plants, for example protein or metabolizable energy content. The project will demonstrate the feasibility of fitting these models to data using modern Bayesian methods. Evidence in data for competing models will be evaluated. A new, theoretical and empirical framework for understanding how plants mediate herbivore population growth will be produced, thereby motivating new lines of inquiry in ecology.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

一种被称为密度依赖的关系为全世界野生和家养食草动物（例如鹿、麋鹿、牛和羊）种群的明智管理提供了信息。在数十个栖息地的数十个物种中观察到的这种关系一致表明，随着种群中个体数量的增加，每个雌性产生的存活后代数量减少。管理这些物种的收获取决于对这种关系的理解，因为最大的收获是在种群既不太大也不太小的时候持续的。尽管密度依赖对全世界的猎人、牧民和牧场主很重要，但产生这种关系的机制仍然知之甚少。这个项目的目标是提高我们对食草动物种群密度依赖性机制的理解。实现这一目标可以从根本上改变野生动物、牲畜和牧场的管理方式。将通过在管理者和决策者可访问的媒体中总结密度依赖对野生和家养食草动物收获的影响来扩大工作的影响。综合30年来对大型哺乳类食草动物觅食行为和种群动态的研究，将有助于发展新的、具有广泛解释性的数学和统计模型，以显示植物群落的营养特征如何产生密度依赖性。这些模型将预测密度依赖性如何被动物体重、植物生物量以及植物中营养物浓度的平均值和方差（例如蛋白质或代谢能含量）改变。该项目将证明使用现代贝叶斯方法将这些模型与数据拟合的可行性。将评价竞争模型的数据证据。一个新的，理论和经验的框架，了解植物如何介导食草动物种群增长将产生，从而激发新的调查路线在ecology.This奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。