Stochastic dynamics, inflationary effects & predator-prey metapopulations

了解物种的数量和分布是如何变化的，对于我们理解生物圈是至关重要的。人口的这些变化可以发生在局部、非常小的规模，也可以发生在更大的规模，如区域。目前尚不清楚生态因素(例如捕食)如何随着这种空间尺度的变化而变化。回答这个问题的一种方法是使用实验微观世界：在受控环境中相互作用的一小群物种来测试和探索想法，并在群落生态学中做出预测。将我们的微观世界实验与数学建模相结合，可以为解决这类研究问题提供更广阔的视角。这项研究工作的主要目的是了解捕食者和猎物的数量是如何随着我们更多地考虑它们所处的栖息地(空间)而发生变化的。利用昆虫及其捕食者(寄生蜂)，我们将创造出允许捕食者和猎物在其中活动和互动的景观。我们将根据每个物种数量的变化来监测这些相互作用的后果。同样重要的是要知道不同环境或环境变化对生态相互作用的影响。例如，不同的环境如何影响捕食者和猎物之间的相互作用？如果这些环境发生变化并且不可预测，物种的分布和数量会发生什么？探索这些外部环境过程与空间尺度如何影响物种相互作用是我们工作的第二个目标。对不可预测环境中不同尺度上不同物种的相互作用进行研究，将为我们提供有关种群如何对空间和不可预测性做出反应的信息。通过将这项工作与数学模型相结合，我们将获得对影响生物多样性持久性和丰富性的广泛过程的重要见解。我们的好奇心驱动的项目将提供一些可测试的目的和目标的概念证明。这项研究涉及国家生态研究中心支持的一些领域，特别是与了解生态系统中影响生物多样性保护的基本过程有关的领域。

Appreciating how the numbers and distribution of a species change is of fundamental importance to our understanding of the biosphere. These changes in populations can occur at a local, very small scale or at larger scales such as regions. It remains unclear how the ecological factors (e.g. predation) alter as this spatial scale changes. One approach in answering this question is to use experimental microcosms: small groups of species that interact in controlled environments to test and explore ideas, and make predictions in community ecology. Combining our microcosm experiments with mathematical modelling allows a broader perspective to be used in tackling these sorts of research questions. The primary aim of this research work is to understanding how predator and prey numbers change as we consider more about the habitat (space) in which they occupy. Using insects and their predators (parasitic wasps), we will make landscapes in which predators and prey are allowed to move and interact. We will monitor the consequences of these interactions in terms of changes in numbers of each species. It is equally important to know what the consequences of different environments or changes in the environment are for ecological interactions. For example, how are predator-prey interactions affected by different environments? What happens to the distribution and numbers of a species if these environments change and are unpredictable? Exploring how these external, environmental processes couple with spatial scale affect species interactions is the second aim of our work. Conducting a study on different species interactions at different scales in unpredictable environmental regimes will provide us with information about how populations response to space and unpredictability. By coupling this work with mathematical modelling, we will gain important insights into a broad class of processes that affect the persistence and abundance of biodiversity. Our curiosity-driven project will provide a proof of concept of a number of testable aims and objectives. This study relates to a number of areas supported by the NERC, particularly those associated with understanding fundamental processes in ecosystems that affect the preservation of biodiversity