"Ecosystem disturbances, interactions, and landscape resilience"

生态干扰通过重新设置植物和动物群落聚集的舞台，在群落和生态系统生态学中起着重要作用。植被火灾和虫害爆发是自然生态干扰，与森林采伐造成的人为干扰一起，影响了不列颠哥伦比亚省的森林结构和功能。这些干扰的原因和影响通常是独立研究的，但最近前所未有的山松甲虫昆虫流行提出了重要的问题，即干扰如何相互调节以及快速连续发生的多重干扰所产生的生态后果。本研究计划的长期目标是建立一个模型框架，以测试BC省北部森林地区生态干扰相互作用的假设，作为理解这些生态系统在气候变化背景下恢复能力的基石。该研究计划有四个目标：1。建立不列颠哥伦比亚省山松甲虫爆发的空间变化约束模型；2. 测试了北长白松群落对山松甲虫和火灾复合干扰的恢复力；3. 确定山松甲虫爆发是否影响野火燃烧的空间格局；和4。研究火灾天气和火灾气候之间的关系，作为提高我们模拟过去和未来火灾活动能力的一步。

Ecological disturbances play a significant role in community and ecosystem ecology by re-setting the stage on which plant and animal communities assemble. Vegetation fires and insect outbreaks are natural ecological disturbances that, along with anthropogenic disturbance from forest harvesting, contribute to forest structure and function across British Columbia (BC). The causes and effects of these disturbances are typically studied independently however a recent mountain pine beetle insect epidemic of unprecedented extent raises important questions about how disturbances regulate one another and the ecological outcome generated by multiple disturbances that occur in quick succession. The long-term objective of this research program is to develop a model framework to test hypotheses about interactions of ecological disturbances in northern forest regions of BC as a cornerstone to understanding resilience of these ecosystems in the context of changing climate. The research program has four objectives: 1. develop models of spatially varying constraints of mountain pine beetle outbreak across BC; 2. test the resilience of northern lodgepole pine forest communities to compound disturbances generated by mountain pine beetle and followed by fire; 3. determine whether mountain pine beetle outbreaks affect spatial patterns of burning by wildfire; and 4. examine the relationship between fire weather and fire climate, as a step toward improving our ability to model past and future fire activity.