Community structure and food-web ecology of northern terrestrial arthropods

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Canada's north is important from social, economic and ecological perspectives. The vitality and wellbeing of northern peoples, the land, and the wildlife is dependent on biodiversity, the variety of species distributed across the country. Biodiversity is dominated insects and spiders and their relatives (arthropods). These animals contribute in significant ways to the Arctic, whether as food for wildlife, as key pollinators, as predators of smaller animals, or as nuisance pests. Understanding the connections between arthropods is essential as we face environmental challenges in the northern, whether by climate change, or northern development.*******This long-term research program will quantify the biodiversity, food-web dynamics and community structure of terrestrial insects and spiders living in northern Tundra ecosystems. There are four short-term objectives for this research program: (1) descriptive and experimental ecological methods, and molecular approaches, will be used to quantify the linkages between terrestrial arthropods in a focal study area in the Arctic (Cambridge Bay, Nunavut), and thus build a strong understanding of how the ‘interaction web' among tundra-dwelling insects and spiders. (2) Testing the generality of this food-web will be done by expanding to Axel Heiberg, Bylot Island, Kuujjuaq and the Yukon, and quantifying comparative interaction-base food-webs across much of northern Canada. (3) The research will test the functional importance of tundra arthropods in food-webs by experimenting with two model systems: plant-pollinator communities (i.e., dominated by bees and flies) and generalist predator communities (i.e., dominated by spiders). (4) Finally, the research will test the effects of road and town-site development on biodiversity and food-web structure, in Cambridge Bay and Iqaluit – two communities which are growing rapidly. The research will also contribute to understanding the natural history of northern species, and will include outreach, education and knowledge sharing with northern communities*******This research will train undergraduate and graduate students to become ecologists and entomologists with critical expertise in biodiversity science, including field work, data management and analysis, and science communication. This program will build upon foundational work about arthropod biodiversity in Canada's Arctic, and quantifying food-webs and community structure will help us better understand the functional importance of insects and spiders in the north, and their connections to other parts our ecosystems. Only once we work to understand the connections between species can we be positioned to the challenges ahead for Canada's north.***