Community structure and food-web ecology of northern terrestrial arthropods

从社会、经济和生态的角度来看，加拿大北部都很重要。北方人民、土地和野生动物的活力和福祉取决于生物多样性，即分布在全国各地的物种的多样性。生物多样性主要是昆虫和蜘蛛及其近亲(节肢动物)。这些动物对北极做出了重大贡献，无论是作为野生动物的食物，作为关键的传粉者，作为较小动物的捕食者，还是作为令人讨厌的害虫。当我们在北方面临环境挑战时，了解节肢动物之间的联系是至关重要的，无论是气候变化还是北方开发。这项长期研究计划将量化生活在北部苔原生态系统中的陆地昆虫和蜘蛛的生物多样性、食物网动态和群落结构。这项研究计划有四个短期目标：(1)描述和实验生态学方法，以及分子方法，将被用来量化北极重点研究区域(剑桥湾，努纳武特)陆地节肢动物之间的联系，从而建立对冻土带昆虫和蜘蛛之间的“相互作用网络”的深刻理解。(2)将通过扩展到阿克塞尔·海贝格、比洛特岛、库伊华克和育空群岛，并量化加拿大北部大部分地区基于相互作用的比较食物网，来测试这一食物网的普遍性。(3)本研究将通过实验两种模式系统来测试苔原节肢动物在食物网中的功能重要性：植物-传粉者群落(即以蜜蜂和苍蝇为主)和通用捕食者群落(即以蜘蛛为主)。(4)最后，这项研究将在剑桥湾和伊卡卢伊特这两个快速增长的社区测试道路和城镇遗址开发对生物多样性和食物网结构的影响。这项研究还将有助于了解北方物种的自然历史，并将包括与北方社区的外联、教育和知识分享*这项研究将培养本科生和研究生成为具有生物多样性科学关键专业知识的生态学家和昆虫学家，包括野外工作、数据管理和分析以及科学交流。该计划将建立在加拿大北极节肢动物生物多样性基础工作的基础上，量化食物网和群落结构将有助于我们更好地了解北部昆虫和蜘蛛的功能重要性，以及它们与我们生态系统其他部分的联系。只有我们努力了解物种之间的联系，我们才能定位于加拿大北部未来的挑战。

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.***