Trophic Dynamics in Human-dominated Ecosystems

城市化是世界上增长最快的土地利用类型。我们已经知道，城市中的生物多样性发生了根本性的变化。然而，我们不知道是什么因素控制着城市社区的营养或摄食结构，以及这些控制与较少由人类主导或自然环境有何不同。例如，城市捕食者的减少可能意味着食草动物(植物的消费者)急剧增加，只受资源或压力的控制。我们的研究将确定城市中的资源、压力和天敌(捕食者和寄生虫)对食草动物和捕食者的丰度和多样性以及植物生物量的相对影响。我们的研究解决了基本问题-城市化如何影响营养结构和动态，以及城市的营养动态是否与较少由人类主导的生态系统中的营养动态不同？这项研究将为如何在城市环境中维持食物网及其相关的生物多样性和生态系统服务提供见解。这项研究与教育和K-12推广计划(如生态探索者)以及与州和地方政府和企业的合作伙伴关系密切相关。我们的一些实验点是K-12学校的操场，K-12的老师和学生将直接参与实验，并与亚利桑那州立大学的教职员工和研究生互动。

Urbanization is the most rapidly increasing land use type worldwide. We already know that biodiversity is radically altered in cities. However, we do not know what factors control the trophic or feeding structure of urban communities, and how these controls differ from less human-dominated or natural environments. For example, reduction of predators in cities could mean that herbivores (consumers of plants) increase dramatically and are controlled only by resources or stress. Our research will determine the relative effects of resources, stress, and natural enemies (predator and parasites) in cities on herbivore and predator abundances and diversity, and plant biomass.Our research addresses fundamental questions - How is trophic structure and dynamics influenced by urbanization and, are trophic dynamics different in cities than in less human dominated ecosystems? This research will provide insights into how food webs and their associated biodiversity and ecosystem services can be maintained in urban settings. This research is closely linked to educational and K-12 outreach programs (e.g., Ecology Explorers), as well as partnerships with state and local governments and businesses. Some of our experimental sites are K-12 schoolyards, where K-12 teachers and students will directly participate in the experiments and interact with ASU faculty and graduate students.