Individual-based research int animal ecology and evolution

我的研究重点是基于个体的动物种群研究。我特别感兴趣的是解释单代适应性代理的变化（例如，终身繁殖成功）来自行为、形态和动物对生物和非生物环境的独特经历的累加和交互作用。通过考虑个体对人口增长的贡献的潜在基础，我希望能够弥合生态和进化动力学。我的工作主要是基于对有蹄类动物种群的长期研究（例如，红鹿，梅花鹿，驯鹿，野马）使用生态学和遗传学回答问题。最近的实证分析询问如何动物的健身可能会受到其使用的可用资源，同时考虑到独特的经验，如竞争，捕食，生态演替和跨代效应的重要过程。本建议的一个关键组成部分是我计划建立一个长期（30年以上），以个人为基础的研究人口的野马在紫貂岛，新斯科舍省。短期目标是为未来的研究提供基础，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)密度依赖的资源选择和与适应性的联系;（4）乐队动力学和社会生物学;（5）种群遗传学和微观进化。除了追求将生态学和进化动力学联系起来的目标外，我还受到详细的人口研究（如Sable的研究）的许多机会的激励，这些机会使我们能够询问基本的生态学和进化。例如，使用这个系统，我还将研究（6）入侵的海豹种群（在黑貂上出生）从海洋向陆地转移大量氮和其他营养物质的可能性，从而影响植被，从而影响马的生活史和动力学。这项工作的重要性是广泛的，从问“蓝天”问题（例如，为什么一些品系繁荣而另一些品系衰退或灭绝，为什么一些策略或性状可能在一个时间被选择而不是另一个时间）应用于（例如，确定对物种保护重要的关键生境的方法）。

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).