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。我特别感兴趣的是从行为、形态和动物对生物和非生物环境的独特体验的加法和相互作用中解释适合度的单代代理（例如，终生生殖成功）的变化。通过考虑个人对人口增长的潜在贡献，我希望在生态与进化动力学之间架起一座桥梁。我的工作主要基于对有蹄类动物种群（如马鹿、狍、北美驯鹿、野马）的长期研究，利用生态学和遗传学来回答问题。最近的实证分析提出，在考虑竞争、捕食、生态演替和跨代效应等重要过程的独特经历的同时，动物对可用资源的利用如何影响其适应性。这个提议的一个关键组成部分是我计划建立一个长期（30年以上）的，以个体为基础的研究在黑貂岛，新斯科舍省的野马种群。短期目标是为未来的研究奠定基础，旨在更好地理解：(1)马种群的动态；(2)影响生活史的表型和环境因素；(3)密度依赖性资源选择及其与适应度的关联；(4)波段动力学与社会生物学；(5)群体遗传与微进化。除了追求将生态和进化动力学联系起来的目标外，我还受到了许多机会的激励，这些机会是详细的种群研究（如对黑貂的研究）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)突发性海豹种群（在黑貂上产卵）从海洋转移到陆地上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，为什么一些种群繁荣而另一些种群衰落或灭绝，为什么一些策略或特征可能在一次选择而不是在另一次选择）到应用（例如，确定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).