OPUS: Intrinsic Dynamics of the Regional Community

这项研究试图确定三种因素--气候、竞争对手和疾病--如何影响动物的出没地点和常见程度。了解这些因素的影响对于预测动物可能对气候变化、引入的物种和新出现的疾病做出何种反应非常重要。病原体(导致疾病的生物体)具有独特的影响，因为它们通常专门针对少数物种，而竞争物种和气候变化的影响通常为许多物种所感受到。病原体和宿主(对病原体敏感的动物)之间的相互作用可能会随着时间的推移而改变。当对病原体产生抵抗力时，寄主的数量可能会增长，随着病原体变得更加致命，寄主的数量可能会减少。这些扩张和收缩的阶段可能对确定物种出现的地点很重要，甚至可能促进新物种的形成。因此，研究宿主和病原体之间的动态相互作用可以帮助我们了解地球上主要的生命模式。这项研究将导致对决定鸟类物种分布模式和丰度的因素进行一本书长的综合。气候、竞争对手和病原体对种群及其分布的潜在影响的独特预测将使用从文献中获得的关于鸟类种群的数据、来自监测计划的各种数据库以及来自首席调查者实验室关于禽类疟疾寄生虫的宿主和地理分布的数据来检验(Apicomplexa：Haemosporida)。对加勒比盆地周围鸟类种群地理分布的遗传分析将有助于洞察种群扩张和收缩的时间动态及其在物种形成中的作用。这些分析的结果，包括对相关文献的回顾和综合，将在一本强调生态群落内在动力的书中描述。病原体及其宿主的共同进化动力学所产生的见解尚未在进化或群落背景下进行探索，这将为解释群落多样性的模式和理解物种对不断变化的环境的反应提供一个框架。

This research seeks to determine how three types of factors -- climate, competitors, and disease -- influence where animals are found and how common they are. Understanding the influence of these factors is important for predicting how animals may react to climate change, introduced species, and emerging diseases. Pathogens (organisms that cause disease) exert unique influence because they are typically specialized on a few species, whereas the impacts of competing species and climate change are typically felt by many species. The interaction between pathogens and hosts (animals susceptible to pathogens) can change over time. The populations of hosts can grow as they become resistant to the pathogens and can shrink as the pathogens become more deadly. These phases of expansion and contraction are likely important in determining where species occur and may even promote the formation of new species. Thus, investigating the dynamic interactions between hosts and pathogens can help us understand major patterns of life on earth.This research will result in a book-length synthesis of the factors that determine patterns of distribution and abundance of species of birds. Unique predictions from the potential effects of climate, competitors, and pathogens on populations and their distributions will be tested using data on avian populations obtained from the literature, a variety of databases from monitoring programs, and data from the Principal Investigator's laboratory on the host and geographic distribution of avian malaria parasites (Apicomplexa: Haemosporida). Genetic analyses of populations of birds over their geographic distributions around the Caribbean Basin will provide insight into the temporal dynamics of population expansion and contraction and their role in species formation. Results of these analyses, including a review and synthesis of the related literature, will be described in a book that emphasizes the intrinsic dynamics of ecological communities. Insights arising from the coevolutionary dynamics of pathogens and their hosts have not been explored in either an evolutionary or community context, and will provide a framework for interpreting patterns in community diversity and understanding the responses of species to a changing environment.