US-Costa Rica Dissertation Enhancement: Effects of Patch Size and Matrix Composition on Survival

这一博士论文增强奖将支持一名博士生(Viviana Ruiz-Gutierrez)在哥斯达黎加进行研究的旅费、生活费和其他直接费用。研究将于2006年5月至8月和2007年12月至4月在研究人员下榻的拉斯克鲁塞斯生物站附近的野外地点进行。哥斯达黎加的东道主是哥斯达黎加国家博物馆鸟类馆长胡里奥·桑切斯先生，他是哥斯达黎加领先的鸟类学家之一。桑切斯先生将与康奈尔大学副教授托马斯·加文博士一起担任鲁伊斯-古铁雷斯女士在该项目上的联合顾问。尽管种群生态学的研究已经有很长的历史，但人们对驱动种群人口过程的因素知之甚少。大多数实证研究侧重于栖息地碎片化对社区一级格局的影响，而不是种群一级的过程。这项研究调查了栖息地斑块大小对生存的影响，并试图评估周围栖息地基质的影响。如果成功，该项目的结果将有助于指导未来美洲各地公园附近地区的土地使用规划。

This Doctoral Dissertation Enhancement award will support the travel, living expenses, and other direct costs for one PhD student (Viviana Ruiz-Gutierrez) to conduct research in Costa Rica. The research will be conducted from May-August 2006, and from Dec-April 2007 at field sites located in the vicinity of the Las Cruces Biological Station where the researcher will be staying. The Costa Rican host is Mr. Julio Sanchez, curator of birds at the National Museum of Costa Rica and one of Costa Rica's leading ornithologists. Mr. Sanchez will be a co-advisor to Ms. Ruiz-Gutierrez on this project along with Dr. Thomas Gavin, Associate Professor at Cornell University. Despite a long history of research in population ecology, very little is known about the factors that drive demographic processes of populations. Most empirical research has focused on the effects of habitat fragmentation on community-level patterns rather than population-level processes. This study investigates how survival is affected by habitat patch size and will attempt to evaluate the effects of the surrounding habitat matrix. If successful, the results of this project could help guide future land use planning for areas in the vicinity of parks throughout the Americas.