Competition and facilitation in culturally significant herbivores

具有重要文化意义的食草动物的竞争和促进

• 批准号: 312860-2012
• 负责人: McLaren, Brian
• 金额: $ 1.53万
• 依托单位: Lakehead University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2012-01-01 至 2013-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=506827
• 关键词: Competition; facilitation; culturally; significant; herbivores

Competition and facilitation are difficult to measure as direct or indirect effects between two animal species. Indirect effects like facilitation are as a result less appreciated than they might be in animal ecology. I have been successful in launching a program of study that considers indirect interactions in large herbivores. Continuing in this theme, I will consider a specific subset of competitive effects (density dependent changes in foraging behaviour in the North American beaver and in the vicuña, an Andean camelid) and a specific subset of facilitation effects (provision of moose aquatic feeding areas with beaver impoundment of small streams, facilitation of wolf hunting by creation of pond shorelines, and livestock effects on wild camelids that reduce interspecific competition and increase foraging efficiency) that might vary in size with variation in water availability. Dispersal of beavers will be compared across a landscape of undulating wetlands and upland forest in Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota. Habitat use in moose will be studied in the context of beaver effects in creating this flooded landscape. Habitat use in beavers will be matched to varying mating systems that may affect survival, dispersal and their landscape 'engineering' ability. The beaver, moose and wolf system can be reconstructed through time by matching wetland distribution today to published information on past beaver colonization of Voyageurs National Park. Habitat use in vicuñas will be compared in richer, wetland foraging areas and in dryer, forage-poor areas, where the effect of livestock on vigilance behaviour in vicuñas will also be tested. This Ecuador-based study will likely identify facilitation that varies in rainy and dry seasons. Together, the Minnesota and the Ecuador studies add to the literature on colonization of habitats of variable quality. The Ecuador study contributes to how we understand different species may co-exist, including livestock, herders and wildlife, in this way adding importantly to conservation literature. Both studies will train students in wildlife investigation techniques and will offer new insights in ecology.

竞争和促进很难作为两个动物物种之间的直接或间接影响来衡量。因此，诸如促进作用之类的间接效应不像在动物生态学中那样受到重视。我成功地启动了一项研究计划，该计划考虑大型食草动物的间接相互作用。继续这个主题，我将考虑竞争效应的一个特定子集（北美海狸和安第斯骆驼科动物骆驼的觅食行为的密度依赖性变化）和促进效应的一个特定子集（提供驼鹿水生饲养区，在小溪中蓄水河狸，通过创建池塘海岸线促进狼狩猎，以及牲畜对野生骆驼科动物的影响，从而减少种间的影响） 竞争并提高觅食效率），其规模可能会随着可用水量的变化而变化。我们将比较明尼苏达州 Voyageurs 国家公园起伏的湿地和高地森林中海狸的分布情况。驼鹿的栖息地利用将在海狸效应的背景下进行研究，以创造这种被淹没的景观。海狸的栖息地利用将与不同的交配系统相匹配，这可能会影响海狸的生存、扩散及其景观“工程”能力。通过将今天的湿地分布与过去在 Voyageurs 国家公园的海狸殖民的公开信息相匹配，可以随着时间的推移重建海狸、驼鹿和狼系统。将比较富裕的湿地觅食区和干燥的饲料匮乏地区的骆马栖息地利用情况，同时还将测试牲畜对骆马警惕行为的影响。这项基于厄瓜多尔的研究可能会确定雨季和旱季不同的促进作用。明尼苏达州和厄瓜多尔的研究共同丰富了关于不同质量栖息地的殖民化的文献。厄瓜多尔的研究有助于我们了解不同物种可能共存，包括牲畜、牧民和野生动物，从而为保护文献增添了重要内容。这两项研究都将培训学生野生动物调查技术，并提供生态学方面的新见解。