DISSERTATION RESEARCH: A Mechanistic Investigation of Range Limits Across Scales

所有物种的一项基本生态属性是它们所生存的栖息地的地理范围和物理条件。然而，由于很难研究发生在大地理尺度上的生态过程，我们对决定物种分布的因素的理论理解是有限的。该项目的重点是了解是什么决定了一种具有重要生态意义的物种--贝类从几米到数百公里的分布。这个项目将结合实验和观察方法来量化整个物种范围内个体的生存、生长和繁殖。该物种非常适合研究范围限制，因为它的一维沿海分布，个体可以很容易地移植，以及遥感测量它们的分布的能力。该项目的结果将表明食物网相互作用和自然栖息地条件在限制这种潮间带物种分布方面的相对重要性。这项研究将探讨更广泛的主题，即物种如何通过地理范围的变化来适应不断变化的环境，并提出具有实际意义的问题，如物种灭绝是如何发生的，气候变化可能如何改变物种的分布。该项目的其他更广泛的影响包括对华盛顿州奥林匹克半岛的高中教师和学生的外联活动，那里是该项目实验工作的地点。这一推广活动将包括正在进行的研究的课堂介绍以及高中生到实地实地进行的教育旅行。该项目还将加强一名博士生的研究培训。

A basic ecological property of all species is the geographic range and physical conditions of the habitats in which they exist. However, our theoretical understanding of what determines species distributions is limited due to the difficulty of studying ecological processes occurring over large geographic scales. The focus of this project is to understand what determines the distribution of an ecologically important species, the mussel Mytilus californianus, from a scale of meters to hundreds of kilometers. This project will combine experimental and observational approaches to quantify survival, growth, and reproduction of individuals across the full range of the species. This species is ideally suited to a study of range limits because of its one dimensional coastal distribution, the ease with which individuals can be transplanted, and the capability of remote sensing to measure their distribution. Results from this project will indicate the relative importance of food web interactions and physical habitat conditions in restricting the distribution of this intertidal species. This research will address the broader topic of how species can adapt to changing environments through shifts in geographic range, and informs questions with practical implications such as how species extinctions occur and how climate change is likely to shift species distributions. Other broader impacts of this project include outreach activities to high school teachers and students on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State, which is the location of the experimental work of this project. This outreach will include classroom presentations of the research being done as well as educational trips for high school students to the field sites. This project will also enhance the research training of a doctoral student.