NSFGEO-NERC: Why are complex habitats more diverse?

地球上的大多数栖息地都是表层栖息地--从深海战壕到山顶，从珊瑚礁到冻土带。表面栖息地的复杂性各不相同，从相对简单的平面表面到高度复杂的三维结构。生态学的一个关键范式是，与平坦、简单的生境相比，复杂的生境往往包含更多的物种和更多的物种。与此同时，人类和自然的干扰正在迅速改变栖息地的复杂性。因此，了解和预测这些栖息地变化对生物多样性的影响现在至关重要。该项目使用新的3D表面建模技术来准确测量栖息地的复杂性，并确定复杂性的变化如何影响栖息地中生物的多样性。该项目对两名博士后、一到两名博士生和最多10名本科生和其他实习生进行了使用尖端技术量化生态变化的培训。该项目的成果有助于评估和预测生态系统平整对生物多样性和生态系统功能的影响，以及预测变化对生态系统和经济的影响。该项目的目标是量化表层生境的几何形状，并检查生境复杂性与生物多样性的耦合。该项目使用珊瑚礁作为测试系统，整合了生态学理论、3D地表测绘和相关的生物多样性和环境数据，以及实验操作，以建立复杂性-生物多样性关系的机械框架。该项目可推广到其他地表生境，因此可用于测试全球和其他地表生态系统的复杂性-生物多样性关系。该项目有三个主要目标：(1)通过建立最能反映地表复杂性的几何变量，开发一种量化生境复杂性的方法；(2)整合几何和生态学理论，以分离地表复杂性和面积对物种丰富度、组成和丰度的影响；以及(3)通过测量生境复杂性的操纵引起的环境和生物多样性变化，对理论预测进行实验验证。这一努力的成功将为预测生态系统对栖息地结构变化维度的反应提供一个亟需的框架。该项目由生物海洋学计划和既定的刺激竞争研究计划(EPSCoR)联合资助。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Most habitats on the planet are surface habitats—from the abyssal trenches to the tops of mountains, from coral reefs to the tundra. Surface habitats vary in complexity, from relatively simple, planar surfaces to highly complex three-dimensional structures. One of ecology’s key paradigms is that complex habitats tend to contain more species and at higher abundances than flat, simple habitats. Meanwhile, human and natural disturbances are fast changing the complexity of habitats. Understanding and predicting the effects of these habitat changes on biodiversity is therefore now of paramount importance. The project uses novel 3D surface modelling technology to accurately measure habitat complexity and determine how changes in complexity affect the diversity of organisms that live among the habitat. The project trains two post-docs, one to two PhD students and up to 10 undergraduate and other interns on the use of cutting-edge technology to quantify ecological change. Outcomes from this project facilitate assessment and projection of impacts of ecosystem flattening on biodiversity and ecosystem function, as well as for forecasting the impact of change on ecosystems and economies.The goal of this project is to quantify the geometry of surface habitats and examine habitat complexity-biodiversity coupling. Using coral reefs as a test system, the project integrates ecological theory, 3D surface mapping and associated biodiversity and environmental data, and experimental manipulations to build a mechanistic framework for complexity-biodiversity relationships. The project is generalizable to other surface habitats, and therefore can be used for testing complexity-biodiversity relationships globally and across other surface ecosystems. The project has three main objectives: (1) to develop an approach to quantify of habitat complexity by establishing the geometric variables that best capture surface complexity; (2) to integrate geometric and ecological theory to separate the effects of surface complexity and area on species’ richness, composition and abundances; and (3) to experimentally test theory predictions by measuring environmental and biodiversity changes caused by manipulations of habitat complexity. Success in this endeavor will provide a much-needed framework for predicting ecosystem responses to changing dimensionality of habitat structure.This project is jointly funded by the Biological Oceanography Program and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).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.