RoL: FELS EAGER: Environmental drivers of intraspecific variation in animal behavior and consequences for ecosystem functions

人们普遍认为，物种之间的性状差异会影响生态系统中发生的关键过程，如食物网内的营养物质循环和能量转移。然而，在一个物种内的个体之间，也会发生诸如行为等性状的实质性变化。这是一个重要的科学挑战，以了解物种内的性状变化是否也是生态系统过程的重要。行为特征往往是第一个对环境变化做出反应的，现在人们普遍认识到，许多物种在种群内和种群之间都表现出关键的行为差异。该项目将测试新的假设，即两种广泛分布的淡水小龙虾行为的种群内差异影响能量转移和营养循环。此外，该项目还将评估小龙虾种群之间不同的行为特征是否与环境特征有关，以预测环境变化如何影响这些物种的生态影响。小龙虾通常在溪流生态系统中发挥核心作用，小龙虾种群之间的摄食行为存在很大差异，这可能会影响其生态影响。该项目在考虑物种内的行为变化是否对预测生态过程至关重要方面具有潜在的变革性。此外，它将提高研究人员预测人类引起的物种特征变化的生态后果的能力。该项目还将向教育工作者提供外联服务，并为多名研究生和本科生提供科学培训。本项目的目标是确定小龙虾物种内的行为变化是否：（1）影响河流生态系统功能，（2）可预测地与当地和区域环境特征的差异有关。该项目将使用两种小龙虾物种来完成，它们栖息在从威斯康星州到亚拉巴马和田纳西州的纬度梯度的溪流中。具体而言，在每个物种范围内的溪流中，研究人员将量化不同栖息地的溪流代谢（光合作用和呼吸），并测量当地（资源可用性，捕食）和区域（气候）环境变量。研究人员还将使用实验室行为分析来研究从这些溪流中收集的小龙虾行为的物种内差异。最后，研究人员将使用更大的半自然实验来研究小龙虾种群对关键生态系统功能的影响，包括落叶分解，营养循环和生态系统代谢。这个高风险项目通过将生物行为与更大的生态系统规模动态联系起来，跨越了生物组织的各个层面。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Differences in traits among species are widely understood to influence key processes that occur in ecosystems, such as the cycling of nutrients and transfer of energy within food webs. However, substantial variation in traits, such as behavior, also occurs among individuals within a single species. It is an important scientific challenge to understand whether variation in traits within species is also important for ecosystem processes. Behavioral traits are often the first to respond to changes in the environment, and it is now widely appreciated that many species exhibit critical behavioral differences both within and among populations. This project will test the novel hypothesis that within-population differences in the behavior of two widely distributed freshwater crayfish affect energy transfer and nutrient cycling. In addition, the project will evaluate whether behavioral traits that vary among crayfish populations are related to environmental characteristics, to predict how environmental change may influence the ecological impacts of these species. Crayfish often play a central role in stream ecosystems, and there is substantial variation in feeding behavior among crayfish populations, which is likely to influence their ecological impacts. This project is potentially transformative in considering whether behavioral variation within species is essential for predicting ecological processes. In addition, it will enhance the ability of researchers to predict the ecological consequences of human-induced changes to species' traits. The project will also provide outreach to educators and scientific training for multiple graduate and undergraduate students. The objectives of this project are to determine whether behavioral variation within crayfish species: (1) affects stream ecosystem functions and (2) is predictably associated with differences in local and regional environmental characteristics. This project will be accomplished using two crayfish species that inhabit streams across a latitudinal gradient from Wisconsin through Alabama and Tennessee. Specifically, in streams across each species' range, researchers will quantify stream metabolism (photosynthesis and respiration) in different habitats and measure local (resource availability, predation) and regional (climate) environmental variables. Researchers will also examine within-species differences in the behavior of crayfish collected from these streams using laboratory behavioral assays. Finally, researchers will use larger, semi-natural experiments to examine the effects of crayfish populations that differ in behavior on critical ecosystem functions including leaf litter decomposition, nutrient cycling, and ecosystem metabolism. This high-risk project spans levels of biological organization by connecting organismal behavior to larger, ecosystem-scale dynamics.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.