Arctic ecosystem dynamics: assessing long-term ecosystem effects of natural and anthropogenic disturbance in the Canadian Arctic.

我的研究小组使用生态野外数据（如物候、非生物条件、食物供应）和生物样本来研究自然和人为干扰对自由生活的、在北极繁殖的掠食性鸟类的人口影响。我的实验室以北极游隼（Falco peregrinus tundrius）为研究模型，专注于开展基础研究，以了解环境条件的变化和生殖准备程度如何结合起来影响长途迁徙者的人口统计。为了更全面地了解社区动态，本提案寻求资金用于hqp主导的研究，该研究将生产者和消费者之间的相互作用纳入研究系统。我的研究项目是与努纳武特政府合作开展的，旨在建立一个数十年的项目，能够调查营养水平之间的相互作用，从而为适应环境变化和北极野生动物的管理提供信息。我们在Nunavut的Rankin Inlet社区附近建立了永久性采样点，以调查以下相关问题：1)植物物候和群落组成；2)小型哺乳动物丰度变化趋势；3)鸟类的丰度和分布；节肢动物多样性与生境关系。这些组成部分的数据已经存在，采样地点位于游隼繁殖生态学自1980年以来研究的研究区域内。与之前的研究一致，我的长期目标是检验可行的假设，即可用的食物供应（即资源）和天气，结合繁殖准备，决定了在北极自由生活、繁殖的掠食性鸟类中观察到的人口模式。更具体地说，我的短期目标是验证以下假设：1)游隼的生殖投资是由当前后代的价值和当前条件驱动的，与放弃当前繁殖相权衡，有利于自我投资和未来繁殖；2)消费者（昆虫传粉者）的访花率与峰值资源可用性相关，这种相互作用的相对时间变化是物候失配的结果；3)在没有脊椎动物食草动物的情况下，瓢虫在传播后对种子的捕食是一种补偿性的行为；4)距离较近的不同植物物种之间相互竞争传粉；5)四个捕食者行会间节点间联系（即食物网）的分布表现出高度的通用性（即均匀性）。本文提出的工作明确承认了热带地区生物和非生物相互作用的重要性，强调了长期的年度数据收集，并提出了有可能为生态系统动力学提供新见解的问题和方法。

My research team has used ecological field data (e.g., phenology, abiotic conditions, food availability) and biological samples to examine demographic consequences of natural and anthropogenic disturbance among free-living, Arctic-breeding predatory birds. Using the Arctic peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus tundrius) as a study model, my lab has focused on conducting basic research that contributes to understanding how variation in environmental conditions and reproductive readiness combine to influence demography of a long-distance migrant. In an effort to understand community dynamics more completely, this proposal seeks funding to cost-share HQP-led research that incorporates interactions among producers and consumers into the study system. Conducted in collaboration with the Government of Nunavut, my research program is well positioned to establish a multi-decade program capable of investigating interactions among trophic levels in ways that can inform adaptation to environmental change and management of Arctic wildlife. We have established permanent sampling sites near the community of Rankin Inlet, Nunavut to investigate questions relevant to: 1) plant phenology and community composition; 2) trends in small mammal abundance; 3) avian abundance and distribution, and; 4) arthropod diversity and habitat associations. Data already exist for these components, and sampling sites are located within the study area where peregrine falcon breeding ecology has been studied since 1980. Consistent with previous study my long term objective is to test the working hypothesis that available food supply (i.e., resources) and weather, combined with reproductive readiness determine the demographic patterns observed among free-living, Arctic-breeding predatory birds. More specifically, my short term objectives are to test the following hypotheses: 1) that peregrine falcon reproductive investment is driven by the value of current offspring and current conditions, traded-off against forgoing current breeding in favor of self-investment and future breeding; 2) that visit rate by consumers (insect pollinators) is correlated with peak resource availability, and any corresponding shift in relative timing of this interaction is the result of phenological mismatch; 3) that post-dispersal seed predation by carabid beetles in the absence of vertebrate herbivores is compensatory, 4) that different plant species in close proximity to one another, and which that share pollinator species, compete for pollination, and; 5) that the distribution of inter-nodal links (i.e., food web) among four predator guilds exhibits high generalism (i.e., uniform). The work proposed here explicitly acknowledges the importance of biotic and abiotic interactions across tropic levels, emphasizes annual data collection over long time periods, and addresses questions and methods that have the potential to provide new insights into ecosystem dynamics.