Dissertation Research: Population Dynamics and Pattern Formation in Populations: Theoretical Models and Empirical Tests using Two Weedy Annual Species

植物种群动态和格局形成：两种一年生杂草物种的理论模型和实证检验。植物在种群中的空间位置对种群动态和种群中产生的格局类型具有重要影响。本文提出了一系列明确考察植物种群空间位置效应的模型。这些理论模型将使用在受控环境条件下生长的两种杂草一年生植物——宾夕法尼亚小豆豆（Cardamine pennsylvania）和草叶草（Oxalis corniculata）——的个体的经验数据进行校准。每个物种将与不同数量的邻居和邻居的不同空间位置生长，以确定植物对不同当地邻居条件的响应。这些信息将为植物种群模型提供参数。此外，将利用上述两种物种，在受控环境条件下建立每个物种的长期种群研究，以确定理论模型对半自然条件下种群生长行为的预测程度。这项研究将有助于通过建模将导致单个植物行为的短期过程与长期种群行为联系起来。此外，这项研究还应提供一个理论框架，以确定哪些类型的过程在种群中产生模式。

Population dynamics and pattern formation in plant populations: theoretical models and empirical tests using two weedy annual species. The spatial position of plants in a population can have important consequences for both the population dynamics and the types of patterns produced in plant populations. The development of a series of models that explicitly examine the spatial position effects in plant populations is proposed. The theoretical models will be calibrated using empirical data from individuals of two species of weedy annuals, Cardamine pennsylvanica and Oxalis corniculata, grown under controlled environmental conditions. Each species will be grown with different numbers of neighbors and with different spatial positions of neighbors to determine plants response to different local neighborhood conditions. This information will provide the parameters for the plant population models. In addition, long term population studies of each species will be established, using the above two species, under controlled environmental conditions to determine how well the theoretical models predict the behavior of populations growing under semi-natural conditions. This study will help link through modelling the short-term processes responsible for the behavior of individual plants and the long-term behavior of populations through time. In addition, this study should also provide a theoretical framework for determining what sorts of processes produce patterns within populations.