Collaborative Research: Responses of Mammalian Herbivores to Spatial Heterogeneity Expressed at Multiple Scales

合作研究：哺乳动物草食动物对多尺度空间异质性的反应项目摘要脊椎动物草食动物(如鹿、牛和草原犬等动物)是地球自然系统的重要组成部分。这些动物影响生长在风景中的植物类型，它们影响材料在土壤和植物之间循环的方式，它们控制着像野火这样重要的大规模过程的行为。食草动物对生态系统的许多影响取决于它们在觅食时的移动方式。反过来，食草动物的运动似乎对植被的空间模式做出了反应。然而，尽管草食动物对植物空间异质性的反应是理解草食动物在自然界中的作用的基础，但这些反应仍然知之甚少。我们建议进行实验，以了解不同大小的食草动物(从老鼠到麋鹿)如何对食物空间排列中的复杂模式做出反应。这些实验将回答三个基本问题：是否有特定的异质性来源对食草动物的运动模式产生显著影响？食物中的异质性是否使食草动物能够更有效地觅食，即每单位觅食努力获得更多的能量和营养？是否有简单的数学模型可以忠实地表示食草动物对植物空间格局的反应？这项工作有望揭示生态系统中的一个重要相互作用。描述这种相互作用将促进对自然的理解，并将增强我们管理对人类经济至关重要的过程的能力。

Collaborative Research: Responses of Mammalian Herbivores to Spatial Heterogeneity Expressed at Multiple ScalesProject SummaryVertebrate herbivores (animals like deer and cattle and prairie dogs) are important parts of the earth's natural systems. These animals affect the types of plants that grow on landscapes, they influence the way that materials are cycled between soil and plants, and they control the behavior of important, large-scale processes like wildfire. Many of these effects of herbivores on ecosystems depend on the way they move while they are foraging. Herbivore movement, in turn, seems to respond to spatial patterns in vegetation. However, although responses of herbivores to spatial heterogeneity in plants is fundamental to understanding the role of herbivores in nature, these responses remain poorly understood. We propose experiments to understand how herbivores of various sizes (ranging from mice to elk) respond to complex patterns in the spatial arrangement of foods. These experiments will answer 3 basic questions:Are there particular sources of heterogeneity that exert a predominant influence on herbivore movement patterns?Does heterogeneity in foods allow herbivores to forage more efficiently, that is, to obtain more energy and nutrients per unit of foraging effort?Are there simple mathematical models that can faithfully represent the responses of herbivores to spatial patterns in plants?This work promises to reveal an important interaction in ecological systems. Describing this interaction will advance understanding of nature and will enhance our ability to manage processes that are vital to human economies.