Towards a predictive theory of seaweed population dynamics: ecology of biomass-density relationships

海藻是世界上大多数海洋岩石海岸的食物网的基础，因此了解它们的生态越来越有必要。然而，到目前为止，大多数关于海藻种群生态的科学研究都是在没有寻找可能适用于不同分类群的统一原则的情况下完成的。因此，这类研究的结论大多适用于类似物种，但不适用于广泛的群体。我的研究计划将寻找统一的原则，使海藻种群生态更具预测性。特别是，我将发展关于海藻林发展过程中生物量-密度动态的生态学理论。生物量-密度模型是预测未来种群趋势、估计生物间竞争性相互作用强度以及估计林分生物量(由于保护或逻辑限制而无法直接测量)的简单而强大的工具。因此，我的研究将为海藻种群动态建立一个全面的框架，这将对海藻生态的基础研究和这些资源管理的应用研究产生积极的影响。

Seaweeds are the basis of food webs in most marine rocky shores worldwide, so understanding their ecology is increasingly necessary. To date, however, most scientific studies of seaweed population ecology have been done without searching for potentially unifying principles that would apply across different taxonomic groups. As a result, the conclusions of such studies are mostly applicable to similar species, but not to broad groups. My research program will search for unifying principles that will make seaweed population ecology more predictive. In particular, I will develop ecological theory on biomass-density dynamics during the development of seaweed stands. Biomass-density models are simple, yet powerful, tools to predict future population trends, to estimate the intensity of competitive interactions among organisms, and to estimate stand biomass when this cannot be measured directly due to conservation concerns or logistic constraints. My research will, therefore, generate a comprehensive framework for seaweed population dynamics that will positively impact fundamental studies on seaweed ecology and applied studies on the management of these resources.