Ecological and evolutionary impacts of ecosystem engineering: Wood-boring beetles, arboreal ants, and trophic interactions in Brazilian cerrado

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。有些生物对它们所生活的生态系统的影响远远大于根据它们的丰度或生物量所能预期的影响。这项研究的目的是了解蛀木甲虫对生活在这些甲虫蛀洞中的相关蚂蚁物种的影响，并量化这些蚂蚁对它们捕食的昆虫和它们赖以生存的植物的影响。这项研究将在巴西的大草原地区进行，那里的昆虫和植物多样性很高，但树冠离地面足够低，可以在树的水平上进行操作。将进行实验和观察研究，以确定(1)树木大小和密度对蛀木甲虫、洞巢蚂蚁、它们的猎物和它们赖以生存的植物之间关系的影响，(2)洞大小的变化对这些关系的影响，以及(3)蛀木甲虫如何影响蚂蚁的进化，蚂蚁依赖甲虫产生的洞来遮蔽和养育后代。这项研究将提供关于改变环境的动物之间关系的独特信息，在这种情况下是甲虫，以及那些受这种改变影响的动物。通过阐明一个物种如何影响环境中其他种类动物数量的机制基础，该研究将为物种如何在复杂的自然系统中维持提供重要的见解。拟议中的项目将为三名本科生提供独特的暑期研究机会，目标是女性和少数族裔，并为一名博士后研究员提供极有价值的培训。该项目还将促进强有力的国际合作，并有助于巩固美国和巴西之间持久的机构联系。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).Some organisms have impacts on the ecosystems in which they live that are much greater than would be expected based on their abundance or biomass. The goal of this study is to understand the influence of wood-boring beetles on associated ant species that live in the cavities made by those beetles, and also quantify the effect of those ants on their insect prey and the plants upon which they live. The study will be conducted in the savannah region of Brazil, where insect and plant diversity are high, but the tree canopy is sufficiently low to the ground that manipulations can be carried out at the tree level. Experimental and observational studies will be conducted to determine (1) the impact of tree size and density on the relationship between wood-boring beetles, cavity-nesting ants, their prey, and the plants on which they live, (2) the impact of variability in cavity size on these relationships, and (3) how wood-boring beetles have influenced the evolution of the ants, which depend on beetle-produced cavities for shelter and rearing their offspring. This study will provide unique information about the relationship between animals that modify their environment, in this case the beetles, and those that are influenced by such modification. By clarifying the mechanistic basis for how one species influences the number of other kinds of animals in the environment, the study will provide important insight into how species are maintained in complex natural systems. The proposed project will provide unique summer research opportunities for three undergraduates, targeting females and underrepresented minorities, and highly valuable training for a postdoctoral researcher. The project will also foster strong international collaboration and help solidify a lasting USA-Brazilian institutional link.