Effects of temporal variability of spatial networks on meta-community food-web stability and diversity

在这个项目中，我们将研究栖息地斑块（元食物网）空间网络上的复杂营养网络的结构和稳定性。我们将集中在时间变化的空间网络结构对物种多样性和种群稳定性在当地和区域尺度的影响。物种之间的摄食相互作用形成了局部生境斑块上的营养网络。空间网络由非连续景观中的孤立斑块（节点）组成。空间网络中的链接是由物种在不同栖息地斑块之间分散一定距离的能力形成的。斑块作为当地社区栖息地的可用性和扩散路线的可达性将随时间而变化，从而改变空间网络的结构。我们将使用计算机生成的营养和空间网络和模拟种群动态的物种与常微分方程（ODE）模型。一个斑块上物种的生存取决于满足代谢需求的资源消耗和捕食的死亡率，这两者都取决于当地社区的组成。物种在区域景观中的持久性将取决于它们在不同栖息地之间扩散和在合适的斑块中定居的能力。该项目包括三个工作包，解决不同类型的时间变异的空间网络结构：（1）空间网络与周期性闪烁的链接。斑块之间的扩散并不总是可能的，但只有在某些时间段（例如，交配季节时，移动的个体发育阶段出现）。我们预计，如果当地社区暂时相互隔离，它们之间的物种组成差异将占主导地位。(2)闪烁节点的空间网络。并不是所有的斑块都可以作为当地社区的栖息地，并且可能在一段时间内完全不适合居住（例如在夏季干涸的小池塘）。这破坏了传播能力有限的物种的空间网络。我们将研究如何不同的时间模式的闪烁（如同步或异步）的强或弱连接的补丁影响物种的持久性和同步性的人口振荡整个元食物网。(3)多变的环境条件和适应性扩散。种群的适合度（净增长率）取决于当地群落的组成和环境条件，如温度或斑块中基础资源的可用性。我们将研究如何适应性扩散的物种（例如，移民从一个补丁，只有当净增长是负的），以响应当地环境条件的时间变化驱动器的扩散模式和元社区广泛的人口丰度的变化。

In this project we will study the structure and stability of complex trophic networks on a spatial network of habitat patches (meta-food webs). We will concentrate on the effects of temporal variability of the spatial network structure on species diversity and population stability at local and regional scales. The trophic networks on local habitat patches are formed by the feeding interactions between the species. The spatial network consists of isolated patches (nodes) in a non-continuous landscape. Links in the spatial network are formed by the ability of species to disperse over certain distances between different habitat patches. The availability of patches as habitats for local communities and the accessibility of dispersal routes will vary over time, thereby changing the structure of the spatial network. We will use computer-generated trophic and spatial networks and simulate the population dynamics of the species with ordinary differential equation (ODE) models. The survival of species on a patch is determined by the consumption of resources to cover metabolic demands and by mortality from predation, which both depend on the composition of the local community. The persistence of species in the regional landscape will depend on their ability to disperse between different habitats and colonise suitable patches. The proposed project consists of three work packages that address different types of temporal variability of the spatial network structure: (1) Spatial networks with periodically blinking links. Dispersal between patches is not always possible, but only during certain time periods (e.g. the mating season when mobile ontogenetic stages emerge). We expect that differences in the species composition among local communities will prevail if they are temporarily isolated from each other. (2) Spatial networks with blinking nodes. Not all patches will be constantly available as habitat for a local community and may become completely uninhabitable for some time (e.g. small ponds that dry out during the summer). This disrupts the spatial network for species with limited dispersal capability. We will study how different temporal patterns of blinking (e.g. synchronous or asynchronous) of either strongly or weakly connected patches affects species persistence and synchronism of population oscillations throughout the meta-food web. (3) Variable environmental conditions and adaptive dispersal. The fitness of a population (its net growth rate) depends on the composition of the local community and on environmental conditions such as temperature or availability of basal resources in the patch. We will investigate how adaptive dispersal of species (e.g. emigration from a patch only if net growth is negative) in response to temporal variation of local environmental conditions drives dispersal patterns and meta-community wide variability of population abundances.