Collaborative Research: An Experimental Study of Fire Ecology in Relation to the Red-Cockaded Woodpecker: Linkages Among Population, Community, and Ecosystem Processes

这项拟议研究的目的是开发一种保护生物学基础研究的新方法--以物种为中心的环境分析--并将其应用于广泛研究濒危红冠啄木鸟的种群动态与其环境的关系。美国农业部林业局已同意在佛罗里达州阿帕拉契科拉国家森林的长叶松林中进行为期5年的试验性规定燃烧计划，在那里我们将能够监测鸟类和地面植被。在24个隔室的子集中，我们将监测松树的节肢动物群和营养物质在系统中的移动。在24个隔室中的12个隔间，我们将进行营养强化实验，其中处理将包括补充钙，以及添加和不添加补充磷和氮。被问到的主要问题是(1)营养物质在生态系统中的移动受到规定的火种季节和频率的影响；(2)这种移动是否影响树栖节肢动物的营养质量，树栖节肢动物是啄木鸟的主要食物。这个项目是生态系统管理的一个例子--管理备选方案的试验性应用，使人口和生态系统生态基础研究的结果可以用于在未来的管理方案中进行选择。

The objective of the proposed research is to develop a new approach to basic research in conservation biology--Species-Centered Environmental Analysis--and to apply it to an extensive study of the population dynamics of the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker in relation to its environment. The USDA Forest service has agreed to conduct an experimental 5-year prescribed-burning program in the longleaf pine forests of the Apalachicola National Forest in Florida in 60 management compartments where we will be able to monitor the birds and the ground cover vegetation. In a subset of 24 compartments, we will monitor the arthropod fauna of the pine trees and the movement of nutrients through the system. In 12 of the 24 compartments we will conduct a nutrient enrichment experiment in which treatments will include supplemental calcium with and without supplemental phosphorus and nitrogen. The major questions being asked are (1) Is the movement of nutrients through this ecosystem affected by the season and frequency of prescribed fire; and (2) Does this movement affect the nutritional quality of arboreal arthropods, the main diet of the woodpeckers. This project is an example of ecosystem management--the experimental application of management alternatives that allows the results of basic research in population and ecosystem ecology to be used to select among future management options.