International Postdoctoral Fellows: Foraging Decisions of Mammalian Herbivores: Optimal Bite Size and Patch Dynamics

9405166希普利该奖项是根据国际初级研究员和博士后研究员计划颁发的，该计划使美国科学家和工程师能够在国外公认的卓越研究中心进行为期3至12个月的研究。该项目的奖项提供了联合研究的机会，并提供了使用国外独特或互补的设施、专业知识和实验条件的机会。该奖项将支持Lisa A.Shipley博士与Per Lundberg博士在瑞典乌梅阿的瑞典农业科学大学进行为期10个月的博士后研究访问。他们的研究旨在研究基于摄食率和营养质量之间的权衡来预测不同大小动物的最佳咬合大小的问题。他们将根据动物大小、纤维和植物次生化学与咬合大小或树枝直径的关系、动物的消化生理以及咬合大小和干物质采食率之间的关系来模拟最佳咬合大小。这些预测将与瑞典北部北方生态系统中四种自由放养的食草动物物种的野外和实验室观察结果进行比较，这些物种在冬季以休眠的食性为食。***

9405166 Shipley This award is under the International Junior Investigator and Postdoctoral Fellows Program, which enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct three to twelve months of research abroad at research centers of proven excellence. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions abroad. This award will support a ten month postdoctoral research visit by Dr. Lisa A. Shipley to work with Dr. Per Lundberg at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Umea, Sweden. Their research is designed to examine the question of predicting optimal bite size for animals of different sizes based on tradeoffs between intake rate and nutrient quality. They will do this by modelling the optimal bite size based on animal size, the relationship between fiber and plant secondary chemistry and bite size or twig diameter, the digestive physiology of the animal, and the relationship between bite size and dry matter intake rate. The predictions will be compared with field and lab observations of four free-ranging browsing herbivore species of the boreal ecosystem of northern Sweden feeding in winter on dormant browses. ***