Species diversity, stability and loss

我的研究阐明了维持生物多样性的基本规律。在这项提议中，我综合了科学文献和我自己的研究的最新进展，以检验关于生物多样性如何维持以及何时丧失的三个首要问题。物种的稳定性是否存在通过物种丰富度或功能特征来预测的特征差异？生态学家长期以来一直注意到，大多数群落中的大多数物种都是稀有物种，只有少数物种数量较高。最近的理论认为，稀有性的这种分布映射到物种如何随时间波动以及它们从干扰中恢复的可能性。我将这一点与关于物种发挥功能作用的另一种假设进行了对比，使用了实验诱导的干扰，目标是具有不同特征和不同丰度的物种。优势物种单一栽培的不稳定性能解释生物多样性和聚集功能的时间模式吗？由于物种数量少而产生的第二种现象是，它们在调节其他物种方面起着主导作用。我建议对限制这些优势物种的过程进行测试，重点是这种限制的性质如何影响其他物种和生态群落的净功能。营养相互作用和扩散如何以及何时抑制或加剧物种丰度的随机波动？生态系统被描述为能量的动态运动--有机体依靠太阳和彼此获取能量，然后在能量被消耗或分解时重新分配能量。能量的动态转移会对生物多样性产生影响，因为一个物种的种群数量的轻微变化就会对它的消费者和捕猎者产生影响，导致波动波及整个食物网。我们使用植物中自然隔离的食物网来解决第三个问题，并使用实验方法来测量一个营养水平(例如，滤食者)的随机波动如何传播到它们的猎物和捕食者。这些问题加在一起，考验了更大问题的三个部分：物种及其提供的服务如何随时间波动，以及这些波动是否可以通过物种的属性及其相互作用来理解。他们提供的基础科学对于保护生物多样性及其提供的许多服务是必要的。这项研究将在加拿大和哥斯达黎加进行，使用科学实验、数学建模、统计学和分子工具。它将培训五名博士生，两名硕士学生，并部分支持一名博士后研究员学习资源管理、保护、数据分析和学术等领域所需的尖端方法。

My research elucidates the basic laws that underpin the maintenance of biodiversity. In this proposal, I synthesize recent advances from the scientific literature and my own research to test three overarching questions about how biodiversity is maintained and when it is lost. Are there characteristic differences in the stability of species that can be predicted by their abundances or functional traits? Ecologists have long noted that most species in most communities are rare, with only a few species occurring at high abundances. Recent theory posits that this distribution of rarity maps onto how species fluctuate through time and how likely they are to recover from disturbance. I contrast this with an alternate hypothesis about the functional roles that species perform, using experimentally-induced disturbances that target species with different traits and of different abundances. Can instabilities of monocultures of dominant species explain temporal patterns of biodiversity and aggregate functions? A second phenomenon that arises from having only a few abundant species is that they play a dominant role in regulating other species. I propose a test of the processes that limit these dominant species, with a focus on how the nature of that limitation influences other species and the net functioning of ecological communities. How and when do trophic interactions and dispersal dampen or inflate random fluctuations in species abundances? Ecosystems are described as dynamic movements of energy - organisms feeding off the sun and each other to gain energy and then redistributing that energy as they are consumed or decompose. The dynamic transfer of energy has consequences for biodiversity, as a slight change in the population of one species has impacts on those it consumes and those who hunt it, causing fluctuations to ripple through the food web. We address this third question using naturally isolated food webs that occur in plants, and use an experimental approach to measure how random fluctuations in one trophic level (e.g., filter feeders) propagate to their prey and their predators. Together, these questions test three parts to the larger question of how species and the services they provide fluctuate through time, and whether those fluctuations can be understood through the properties of the species and their interactions. The basic science that they provide is necessary for protecting biodiversity and the many services it provides. The research will be carried out in Canada and Costa Rica, using scientific experiments, mathematical modeling, statistics and molecular tools. It will train five PhD students, two MSc students and partially support a postdoctoral fellow in cutting-edge methods that are needed in fields like resource management, conservation, data analytics, and academia.