Resources at multiple trophic levels mediate foraging by omnivores

我的研究重点是昆虫之间的相互作用和不同生态系统中的营养水平。我的长期目标是了解当食物网的组成部分发生变化时，这些食物网相互作用的相似性和差异性。特别是，我感兴趣的是，杂食动物，根据定义，饲料在食物网内的多个层次，改变他们的喂养决定时，提出了不同类型的资源和杂食动物的喂养决定如何影响其他成员的食物网。杂食动物必须在可能容易获得但质量较低的基础资源与可能稀缺但质量较高的猎物资源之间做出决策。因此，杂食动物面临着在资源质量、类型和丰富度各不相同的地方做出觅食决定。我的中心假设是，杂食动物会根据其他食物来源的类型和质量，以其他益虫（高质量，高风险的猎物）为食。我将用两种不同的杂食动物来检验这个假设，它们在两个不同的食物网中进食，一个以植物为基础，一个以死去的动物为基础。这两个食物网的不同之处在于，对于以植物为食的昆虫杂食动物来说，植物资源是无限的，而对于以死亡动物为食的昆虫杂食动物来说，动物资源会随着时间的推移而耗尽。这使得比较杂食动物时，基础和猎物资源的类型，质量和丰度不同。这也使我能够实现我的短期目标，评估在何种程度上以植物为基础的杂食动物提供洞察机制的杂食动物在更广泛的范围。我的研究承诺作出强有力的贡献，我们的理解的作用，资源在多个营养层次介导杂食动物。通过研究不同生态系统中的昆虫食物网，我探索了生活在不同环境中的动物的行为生态学，从而对群落结构和食物网动态有了更广泛的了解。

My research focuses on interactions between insects within and between trophic levels in different ecosystems. My long term goal is to understand the similarities and differences of these food web interactions when the components of the food web changes. In particular, I am interested in how omnivores, which by definition feed at multiple levels within food webs, change their feeding decisions when presented with different types of resources and how the feeding decisions by omnivores impact other members of the food web. Omnivores must make decisions between feeding on basal resources that may be readily available, but of low quality, with searching for prey resources, which may be scarce, but of high quality. Thus, omnivores are faced with making foraging decisions where resources vary in quality, type and abundance. My central hypothesis is that omnivores will feed on other beneficial insects (high quality, high risk prey) depending on the type and quality of other food sources. I will test this hypothesis using two different omnivores that feed within two different food webs, one based on plants and one based on dead animals. These two food webs differ in that for insect omnivores that live on plants, plant resources are unlimited, whereas, for insect omnivores that live on dead animals, the animal resource is depleted over time. This allows comparisons of omnivory when both basal and prey resources vary in type, quality and abundance. It also allows me to achieve my short term goal of evaluating to what degree plant-based omnivores provide insight to mechanisms of omnivory on a broader scope. My research promises to make a strong contribution to our understanding of the role of resources at multiple trophic levels mediating omnivory. By studying insect food webs in different ecosystems, I explore the behavioural ecology of animals living in very different environments and thereby develop a broader understanding of community structure and food web dynamics.