COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Introduced Foxes And Seabirds: The Role Of Top-Down Processes In Controlling Marine Subsidies To Terrestrial Ecosystems

该项目将研究在阿留申群岛引进北极狐对海鸟数量的影响。 将对引进岛屿的狐狸限制了繁殖和栖息海鸟的分布和数量的假设进行检验。 这一限制可能减少或消除了海鸟在提供营养物以保护植物群落方面的作用。 这项研究将与美国鱼类和野生动物计划同时进行，该计划旨在将狐狸从岛上清除。 USF W的保护计划提供了一个机会，在之前和之后的情况下，使狐狸对社区结构的作用可以更彻底地检查应用的研究结果。 该研究涉及生态学的三个主题领域：1）关键捕食者在陆地社区中的作用; 2）食物网中自上而下和自下而上过程之间的相互作用;以及30生态系统之间沉降的重要性。

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.