Spatial- Temporal Dynamics of Plant-Herbivore Interactions and Ecosystem Processes in Coastal Tundra of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta in Western Alaska

摘要/ abstract摘要：育空-库斯科温三角洲沿海冻土带植物-食草动物相互作用与生态系统过程的时空动态研究将重点关注植物-食草动物种群间反馈的时空结构如何组织局地和区域尺度上的生态系统过程。了解这些反馈需要将草食动物对植被结构和养分循环过程的短期和长期影响与草食动物的相关运动模式和人口统计参数耦合起来。该项目将建立在对黑雁的14年人口统计研究和7年植被/生态系统对草食反应的研究基础上。研究人员将标记2500只布兰特，并记录另外900只先前标记过的成年布兰特的繁殖成功率，以估计特定年龄和特定时间的繁殖概率和存活率，以及对特定育雏区域的保真度。研究人员还将继续对生长的空间变化进行长期调查。该项目是由美国地质勘探局在墨西哥的白斑蝶越冬地计划的工作所利用的，允许pi研究越冬地点对繁殖性能和生存的影响。此外，今年收集的数据将使pi能够检验与1997-98年ENSO事件有关的厄尔尼诺效应的假设。

Abstract98-15383SedingerSpatial-temporal dynamics of plant-herbivore interactions and ecosystem processes in coastal tundra of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta in Western AlaskaThis research will focus on how the spatial-temporal structure of feedbacks between vegetation and herbivore populations organizes ecosystem processes at local and regional scales. Understanding these feedbacks requires the coupling of both short-term and long-term impacts of herbivores on vegetation structure and nutrient cycling processes with the associated movement patterns and demographic parameters of herbivores. This project will build on a 14-year study of the demography of Black Brant geese, and on 7 years of research on vegetation/ecosystem response to herbivory. The investigators will mark 2,500 brant and record reproductive success for an additional 900 previously-marked adults to enable estimation of age- and time-specific breeding probability and survival, and fidelity to specific brood-rearing areas. The investigators will also continue a long-term investigation of spatial variation in growth. The project is leveraged by work planned by the USGS on the Mexico wintering grounds of the brant, allowing the PIs to study the impact of wintering location on reproductive performance and survival. In addition, the data collected in this year will enable the PIs to test hypotheses related to El Nino effects from the 1997-98 ENSO event.