Individual-based research int animal ecology and evolution

我的研究重点是对动物种群进行个体研究。我特别感兴趣的是通过行为、形态以及动物对生物和非生物环境的独特体验的加性和相互作用效应来解释单代适应度指标（例如，终生繁殖成功率）的变化。通过考虑个人对人口增长贡献的根本基础，我希望能够在生态和进化动态之间架起桥梁。我的工作主要基于对有蹄类动物种群（例如红鹿、狍子、驯鹿、野马）的长期研究，利用生态学和遗传学来回答问题。最近的实证分析询问动物的适应性如何受到其对可用资源的使用的影响，同时考虑到竞争、捕食、生态演替和跨代效应等重要过程的独特经历。该提案的一个关键组成部分是我计划对新斯科舍省塞布尔岛的野马种群进行长期（30 年）、基于个体的研究。为未来研究奠定基础的短期目标旨在更好地了解：（1）马种群的动态； (2)影响生活史的表型和环境因素； (3) 密度相关的资源选择及其与适应度的联系； (4)族群动力学和社会生物学； (5)群体遗传学和微观进化。除了追求将生态学和进化动力学联系起来的目标之外，详细的种群研究（如黑貂的研究）让我们有很多机会询问基本的生态学和进化论，这也激励着我。例如，我还将使用该系统研究（6）侵入性海豹种群（在黑貂身上幼崽）将大量氮和其他营养物质从海洋转移到陆地上的潜力，从而影响植被，从而影响马的生活史和动态。这项工作的重要性是广泛的，从提出“蓝天”问题（例如，为什么一些谱系蓬勃发展，而另一些谱系却衰落或灭绝，为什么可能一次选择某些策略或性状而不是另一次）到应用（例如，识别对物种保护重要的关键栖息地的方法）。

My research focuses on the individual-based study of animal populations. I am particularly interested in explaining variation in single-generational proxies of fitness (e.g., lifetime reproductive success) from additive and interactive effects of behaviour, morphology, and an animal's unique experience of the biotic and abiotic environment. By considering the underlying basis of individual contributions to population growth, I hope to bridge ecological and evolutionary dynamics. My work is primarily based on the long-term study of ungulate populations (e.g., red deer, roe deer, caribou, feral horses) using ecology and genetics to answer questions. Recent empirical analyses ask how an animal's fitness might be affected by its use of available resources while taking into consideration unique experiences of important processes such as competition, predation, ecological succession, and cross-generational effects. A key component of this proposal is my plan to establish a long-term (30+ yrs), individual-based study of the population of feral horses on Sable Island, Nova Scotia. Short-term goals providing a foundation for future research are directed at developing a better understanding of: (1) dynamics of the horse population; (2) phenotypic and environmental factors affecting life history; (3) density-dependent resource selection and links with fitness; (4) band dynamics and sociobiology; and (5) population genetics and micro-evolution. In addition to pursuing my goal of linking ecological and evolution- ary dynamics, I am motivated by the many opportunities that detailed population studies (like that on Sable) allow us to ask of fundamental ecology and evolution. For example, using this system I will also study (6) the potential for the irrupting seal population (which pups on Sable) to transfer from the ocean onto land substant- ial amounts of nitrogen and other nutrients, affecting vegetation and thus life histories and dynamics of the horses. The importance of this work is wide ranging, from asking 'blue sky' questions (e.g., why do some line- ages flourish while others decline or go extinct, why might some strategies or traits be selected for at one time but not another) to the applied (e.g., methods to identify critical habitat important for species conservation).