Collaborative Research: Reconciling the interaction patterns of highly functional and resistant ecological communities

生态群落由以多种方式相互作用的物种组成。两种物种都受益的相互作用被称为“互惠”相互作用。例如，在授粉过程中，植物接受花粉产生种子，传粉者获得食物。有些传粉伙伴关系可能是独特和专门的，每个物种都依赖于只能由一个伙伴提供的服务。其他授粉伙伴关系可能是一般的和可互换的，许多物种提供相同的服务。如果所有的伙伴关系都是可互换的，那么即使物种因环境压力而发生变化，群落也可能保持稳定。但是，如果伙伴关系是独特和专业化的，那么社区可能对压力非常敏感。因此，了解物种如何相互作用是生态学的一个核心问题。本研究将探讨不同类型的相互作用（独特的和专门的vs.可互换的和普遍的）如何影响植物和传粉媒介的繁殖能力，以及它们的种群在面对环境变化时能坚持多久。这项研究将集中在马德兰“天空岛”的植物和传粉媒介上，马德兰“天空岛”是美国西南部被低地沙漠隔开的山顶草甸。这项研究将有助于指导这些不寻常栖息地的保护和管理，并为对生态野外工作感兴趣的学生提供指导。网络理论预测，高度冗余和广义的相互作用网络最大限度地抵抗干扰，而专业化的互补网络最大限度地发挥功能。虽然这种权衡被认为是生物网络组织的固有组成部分，但尚不清楚是什么生态和进化过程调节了它们，保护了种群并维持了网络结构。此外，尽管相互作用在有机体（个体到物种）和时间尺度（单一相互作用到跨代的多重相互作用）上可能是异质的，但这种可变性驱动网络结构和生态功能的潜力尚未得到系统的探索。这项研究将通过测试不同生物组织水平的机制如何在网络中同时赋予功能和抗性，从而开辟新的领域。通过量化个体和物种水平的网络，以及短期和长期适应度结果，研究人员将研究网络结构、功能和抗性之间的关系，以及它们对跨生物地理梯度的动植物种群动态的影响。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Ecological communities consist of species that interact with each other in many ways. An interaction in which both species benefit is called a "mutualistic" interaction. For example, in pollination plants receive pollen to produce seeds and the pollinators receive food. Some pollination partnerships may be unique and specialized, with each species depending on services that can be provided only by a single partner. Other pollination partnerships may be general and interchangeable, with many species providing the same services. If all partnerships are interchangeable, then communities may remain stable if their species change due to environmental stress. But if partnerships are unique and specialized, then communities may be very sensitive to stress. Thus, understanding how species interact in the way they do is a central question in ecology. This research will explore how different types of interactions (unique and specialized vs. interchangeable and generalized) affect how well plants and pollinators reproduce and how long their populations can persist in the face of environmental change. The study will focus on the plants and pollinators of the Madrean "sky islands", mountaintop meadows separated by lowland deserts in the southwestern United States. The study will help guide conservation and management of these unusual habitats and provide mentoring of students interested in ecological field work.Network theory predicts that highly redundant and generalized networks of interactions maximize resistant to disturbance, whereas specialized, complementary networks maximize function. While such tradeoffs are assumed to be an inherent part of biological network organization, it is not known what ecological and evolutionary processes mediate them, preserving populations and maintaining network structure. Further, though interactions may be heterogeneous across both organismal (individual to species) and temporal scales (single interactions to multiple interactions across generations), the potential for this variability to drive both network structure and ecological function has not been systematically explored. This research will forge new ground by testing how mechanisms at different levels of biological organization simultaneously confer function and resistance within networks. By quantifying individual- and species-level networks, along with short- and long-term fitness outcomes, the researchers will examine the relationship between network structure, function and resistance, and their impact on plant and animal population dynamics across a biogeographic gradient.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.