Starter Grant: Testing simulation models of animal movement under thermoregulatory constraint

将经典生态学理论扩展到空间动力学，代表了当代生态学研究中最令人兴奋的领域之一，潜在地改变了我们对许多系统的基本理解。在动物如何对环境中温度的变化做出反应方面，这一概念尤其正确，无论是在动物所在范围内的小空间尺度上，还是在动物分布范围内的大空间尺度上。由于许多动物依赖环境热源来调节它们的体温，这些热源在自然环境中何时何地分布将决定一种动物是否能够在特定地区持续生存，或者动物可能如何分散到不同的栖息地。最近，计算机建模技术已经发展起来，根据生理速率和热偏好来预测动物应该如何在复杂的热环境中移动。这些模型表明，环境温度变化更大，或拥有更孤立的有利栖息地的环境，应该会产生更高的体温调节生物的能源成本，因为动物在寻找有利栖息地的过程中将不得不移动更远的距离。这项研究将用活生物体的真实数据来检验这些理论模型。利用球龙壁虎(地球上最小的脊椎动物之一)，关于温度调节和扩散的行为数据将在受控的实验室环境中收集，在那里可以精确地操纵环境温度的复杂性。这个实验装置代表了一个模型系统，通过该模型系统可以评估动物对温度变化的潜在反应。这项工作的结果将帮助研究人员评估气候变化对自然界动物种群的影响。潜在的应用包括预测改变的栖息地的适宜性，根据环境温度的分布预测物种范围，或预测环境温度变化对迁徙路线的潜在影响。

Extending classical ecological theory to include spatial dynamics represents one of the most exciting areas of contemporary ecological research, potentially changing our fundamental understanding of many systems. This notion is particularly true with regard to how animals respond to variation in temperatures found within the environment, both at small spatial scales within an animal's home range or over large spatial scales across an animal's distributional range. Because many animals rely on environmental sources of heat to regulate their body temperature, when and where such heat sources are distributed in natural environments will determine whether an animal can persist in a particular area or how animals might disperse across different patches of habitat. Recently, computer modeling techniques have been developed to predict how animals should move through complex thermal landscapes based on physiological rates and thermal preferences. These models suggest that environments with more variable environmental temperatures, or with more isolated favorable habitat patches, should incur higher energetic costs for thermoregulating organisms because animals will have to move longer distances while searching for favorable habitat. This study will test such theoretical models with real data in living organisms. Using Sphaerodactylus geckos (one of the smallest vertebrate organisms on Earth), behavioral data on temperature regulation and dispersal will be collected in a controlled laboratory setting where the complexity of environmental temperatures can be precisely manipulated. This experimental setup represents a model system whereby potential animal responses to changes in temperature can be evaluated. Results from this work will help researchers evaluate the influence of changing climates on animal populations in nature. Potential applications include predicting the suitability of altered habitats, predicting species ranges based on distributions of environmental temperature, or predicting potential impacts on migration routes due to changing environmental temperatures.