Collaborative research: Interactive effects of predation and ecosystem size on arthropod food webs in Hawaiian forests fragmented by lava flows

该项目将研究顶级捕食者和生态系统规模对食物网中物种共存的综合影响。利用夏威夷熔岩流自然产生的许多不同大小的森林碎片，研究人员将测试这样一个假设，即作为顶级捕食者，非本地大鼠改变了由本地鸟类，昆虫和蜘蛛组成的食物网，对较小的森林碎片产生更大的影响。这项研究将包括实验性地清除老鼠，实验性地排除鸟类，节肢动物的稳定同位素分析，以及对森林大小、复杂性和生产力的遥感分析，所有这些都跨越森林碎片大小的100倍梯度，世界各地的许多森林因开发和牧场土地使用而被分割，并受到老鼠和其他非本地捕食者的入侵。该项目将改善管理决策的科学依据，特别是如何利用清除非本地物种来恢复本地森林，以及效果如何取决于森林规模。该项目还将使研究人员能够通过参与研究培训一些本科生和研究生以及博士后研究员。学生将通过斯坦福大学和夏威夷大学希洛分校的实习项目招募，希洛大学在环境科学方面培养代表性不足的学生方面有着成功的记录。

This project will investigate the combined effects of top predators and ecosystem size on the coexistence of species in food webs. Using numerous forest fragments of varying size that have been naturally created by lava flows in Hawai'i, the researchers will test the hypothesis that, as top predators, non-native rats alter food webs consisting of native birds, insects and spiders, with greater effects in smaller forest fragments. The study will involve experimental removal of rats, experimental exclusion of birds, stable isotope analysis of arthropods, and remote sensing analysis of forest size, complexity and productivity, all across a 100-fold gradient of forest fragment size.Many forests around the world have been fragmented by development and pastoral land use, and also invaded by rats and other non-native predators. This project will improve the scientific basis for making management decisions, especially with regard to how non-native species removal can be used to restore native forests and how the effect may depend on forest size. This project will also enable the researchers to train a number of undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral fellows through their participation in research. Students will be recruited through internship programs at Stanford University and the University of Hawai'i, Hilo, which has a successful record of training under-represented students in environmental sciences.