SGER: Nested Patterns of Species Composition in Ecological Communities

许多自然群落显示出嵌套的子集模式， 物种组成，其中小群落包含子集 在更丰富的物种中发现的物种。 广泛的比较调查 自然群落的一般性将被用来确定 这种非随机的模式，并确定生物和非生物 该调查将包括陆地和 水生、温带和热带、动植物和脊椎动物 和无脊椎动物系统。 分析这一点的几种技术 社区结构的类型-一个由PI和 另一些正在由合作的科学家开发， 就业。 其中两种技术是基于蒙特卡罗 模拟，而第三个涉及明确的数学 解决方案 请拨资金用于：一台个人电脑和 研究生助理（0.5年FTE）进行分析，以及 差旅费，使PI和三个合作者能够在 开始和结束的项目“头脑风暴” 嵌套子集的技术、问题和应用 格局 调查的广度、分析的多样性， PI和合作者的不同背景（包括 系统学、古生物学、土壤生态学和控制论） 新的，强大的观点对生态的重要性， 子集模式

Many natural communities show nested subset patterns of species composition, in which small communities contain subsets of the species found in richer ones. A broad comparative survey of natural communities will be used to determine the generality of this nonrandom pattern and to identify the biotic and abiotic factors that produce it. The survey will include terrestrial and aquatic, temperate and tropical, plant and animal, and vertebrate and invertebrate systems. Several techniques for analyzing this type of community structure--one established by the PI and the others now in development by collaborating scientists--will be employed. Two of these techniques are based on Monte Carlo simulations, while the third involves explicit mathematical solutions. Funds are requested for: a personal computer and graduate assistant (0.5 year FTE) to conduct the analyses, and travel funds to enable the PI and three collaborators to meet at the beginning and conclusion of the project to "brainstorm" techniques, problems, and applications of the nested subset pattern. The breadth of the survey, the variety of analyses, and the different backgrounds of the PI and collaborators (spanning systematics, paleontology, soil ecology, and cybernetics) promise new, robust perspectives on the ecological importance of nested subset patterns.