Collaborative Research: Linking Dispersal to Landscape-level Dynamics of a Predator and Prey

原生生境的破碎化和丧失与世界范围内生物多样性的下降有关。因此，生物在栖息地碎片间的移动对它们的生存至关重要。描述真实景观中生物的运动行为是令人生畏和费力的，特别是考虑到相互作用的物种，如捕食者和猎物。通过以前的NSF资助，克罗宁已经积累了一个全面的数据集，关于景观结构（碎片大小、隔离和周围栖息地的组成）如何影响飞虱及其主要捕食者（拟寄生虫）的运动行为，这些捕食者存在于高草草原物种（草原网草）的离散斑块中。主要目标是建立一个空间上真实的景观水平模型，揭示栖息地破碎化和丧失以及外来植物物种入侵对捕食者-猎物种群持续存在的影响机制。景观模型将使用克罗宁获得的运动数据来开发。开发该模型的一个主要目标是创建一套软件程序，可以应用于广泛的捕食者-猎物系统。人们希望，这些项目将导致一种更明智的景观层面的方法，为受威胁或濒危物种制定成功的保护策略。该项目将在北达科他州培训2名博士生和4-6名本科生。学生将被鼓励在研究中发挥领导作用。这两个pi都将教授关于栖息地破碎化对生物多样性和景观建模的影响的课程。

Fragmentation and loss of native habitats have been implicated in the decline of biodiversity worldwide. As a consequence, movement of organisms among habitat fragments is essential for their persistence. Characterizing the movement behavior of organisms in real landscapes is daunting and laborious, especially when considering interacting species such as a predator and its prey. Through previous NSF funding, Cronin has amassed a comprehensive data set on how landscape structure (fragment size, isolation, and composition of surrounding habitat) affects the movement behavior of a planthopper and its primary predator (a parasitoid) that exist among discrete patches of a tall-grass prairie species (prairie cordgrass). The main objective is to develop a spatially realistic, landscape-level model that will reveal the mechanisms underlying the effects of habitat fragmentation and loss, and the invasion of exotic plant species on the persistence of predator-prey populations. The landscape model will be developed using movement data obtained by Cronin. A primary goal in the development of this model is to create a suite of software programs that can be applied to a wide range of predator-prey systems. It is hoped that these programs will lead to a more informed landscape-level approach to developing successful conservation strategies for threatened or endangered species. This project will provide training for 2 PhD students and 4-6 undergraduates in North Dakota. Students will be encouraged to play a leadership role in the research. Both PIs will teach courses that address the effects of habitat fragmentation on biodiversity and on landscape modeling.