Collaborative Research: Foxes and Seabirds: The Role of Top-Down Process In Controlling Marine Subsidies to Terrestial Ecosystem

该项目将研究在一些阿留申群岛引入北极狐对海鸟种群的影响。被引入岛屿的狐狸限制了繁殖和栖息海鸟的分布和数量的假设将被验证。这种限制可能减少或消除了海鸟在生产滋养植物群落的营养供应方面的作用。这项研究将与美国鱼类和野生动物项目同时进行，该项目将把狐狸从岛上赶走。美国野生动物保护计划提供了一个机会，将研究结果应用于前后的情况，以便更彻底地检查狐狸在社区结构中的作用。本研究涉及生态学的三个主题领域：1)陆地群落中关键捕食者的作用；2)食物网自上而下和自下而上过程的相互作用；以及生态系统之间的重要性。

The project will examine the effects on seabird populations from introduction of Arctic foxes on some Aleutian Islands. The hypothesis that the foxes introduced onto the islands have restricted the distribution and abundance of breeding and roosting seabirds will be tested. That restriction may have reduced or eliminated the role of seabirds from producing the nutrient supply that nourishes the plant community. The study will be conducted in parallel with a U.S. Fish and Wildlife program of removing foxes from the islands. The USF&W conservation program provides an opportunity to apply the results of the research in a before and after situation so that the role of foxes on community structure may be examined more thoroughly. The research addresses three topical areas in ecology: 1) the role of keystone predators in terrestrial communities; 2) the interplay between top-down and bottom-up processes in food webs; and 30 the importance of subsides between ecosystems.