Collaborative Research: Direct and Indirect Effects of Fish Predation on the Freshwater Littoral Benthos.

许多生态群落的结构 这比在《圣经》中所能表达的要微妙和复杂得多。 标准的营养层次，其叠加层， 捕食者，潜在的交叉连接的竞争。 借鉴 对海湾山沿岸的生物群进行了九年的研究 湖（金斯波特，田纳西州），该项目将确定和测量 主要脊椎动物之间的关键生物相互作用 捕食者（redear太阳鱼，Lepomis microlophus），占主导地位 无脊椎捕食者（无脊椎四角虫的幼虫 食蟹猴）和它们的猎物群落。 研究这些相互作用的三组分实验 将进行：（1）大围隔实验操作 两个大小级的鱼类;（2）小型围隔实验 操纵小鱼和两年班的蜻蜓;以及 (3)实验室实验旨在确定行为 实地成果的基础机制，并加强其 解释。 每个组成部分产生的概念将 研究团队整合了一个现实的模型， 构成沿岸的社区的力量。 这些研究旨在测量以下因素的直接影响： 捕食，这可能会导致死亡率增加， 增长或两者兼而有之。 捕食的间接影响也将 可以是刺激性的或抑制性的， 特别的猎物 干扰和剥削竞争是 最后一个方面可能是物种内部或物种之间。 这些结果将有助于改变我们的基本假设 社区组织，并将提供全面的 了解一个社区的结构，包括如何 结构源于潜在的行为和生态 机制 通过此次合作获得的理解 这项工作将为渔业提供宝贵的信息基础 生物学家和湖泊管理者。

Many ecological communities are structured in ways considerably more subtle and complex than can be expressed in the standard trophic hierarchy, with its superimposed layers of predators, potentially cross-linked by competition. Drawing upon nine years of research on the littoral biota of Bays Mountain Lake (Kingsport, TN), this project will identify and measure the critical biotic interactions among the dominant vertebrate predator (redear sunfish, Lepomis microlophus), the dominant invertebrate predator (larvae of the dragonfly Tetragoneuria cynosura), and their prey community. The three component experiments examining these interactions will be conducted: (1) large-enclosure experiment manipulating two size-classes of fish; (2) a small-enclosure experiment manipulating small fish and two-year classes of dragonflies; and (3) laboratory experiments designed to identify the behavioral mechanisms underlying the field results and strengthen their interpretation. Concepts emerging from each component will be integrated by the research team to provide a realistic model of forces structuring littoral communities. These studies are designed to measure the direct effects of predation, which may result in either increased mortality or reduced growth or both. Indirect effects of predation will also be assessed and may be either stimulatory or inhibitory to particular prey. Interference and exploitation competition is the final aspect which may be either within or between species. The results will help change our fundamental assumptions about community organization, and will provide a comprehensive understanding of one community's structure, including how that structure arises from underlying behavioral and ecological mechanism. Understanding gained through this collaborative effort will provide a valuable information base for fisheries biologists and lake managers.