Blow fly reproductive decisions and developmental outcomes mediated by biotic and abiotic environment drive community level dynamics

理解相互作用过程和机制的复杂性仍然是动物生理学、行为和生态学预测应用的关键障碍之一。当所讨论的预测应用涉及利用昆虫证据估计无人看管的人类死亡的死亡时间时，这一点就变得更加重要。昆虫证据包括所有发育阶段和可能存在的相关昆虫残骸。它还包括昆虫的任何行为，如昆虫取食，成虫到达身体的时间，以及卵在身体上的时间和位置。这些信息提供了关于发现尸体之前的时间框架或情况的证据价值。我的研究重点是昆虫的繁殖和觅食决策。我检查了在自然和管理的农业生态系统中，在不同的非生物和生物压力下，对生态和后代发展的这些决定的结果。我建议评估人类来源和生物因素如何相互作用，以改变以死亡动物为基础的资源系统中吹蝇（双翅目：吹蝇科）的繁殖决策和后代的结果。尽管这些生物学指标直接适用于人类重要的问题，但在文献中有许多未经检验的假设，这些假设往往被推广到整个家庭。这些包括产卵的具体地点，产卵的时间，产卵的数量，以及发育的较低温度阈值。在北美的36种利用腐肉或死亡动物的物种中，只有不到1/4的物种有基本的发育数据。即使对少数得到较好研究的物种，关于较低的发育温度阈值和产卵时间仍然存在争议。关于湿度或物种相互作用对这些生活史特征的影响等其他影响的信息有限。具体来说，我的研究将测量不同种类的吹蝇在不同温度、湿度和不同动物组织上产卵的时间和地点选择、产卵数量、存活率、后代的大小和发育。这些生活史性状将被单独测量，也将与其他吹风蝇组合测量，以测量物种组合对这些性状表达的影响。最后，我将沿着人类影响的梯度测量不同类型的动物组织源（即垃圾，道路死亡）的分布，并测量这种对吹蝇物种多样性和分布的影响。该研究将为了解特定种类的吹风蝇生活史特征提供重要依据，具有直接的昆虫证据应用价值。这些数据将用于研究物种如何在空间和时间上在零散的、短暂的资源上聚集的过程和功能的复杂性。

Understanding the complexity of interacting processes and mechanisms remains one of the critical stumbling blocks in predictive applications of animal physiology, behaviour and ecology. This becomes even more vital when the predictive application in question involves estimates of the time of death of unattended human deaths using insect evidence. Insect evidence includes all developmental stages and associated debris of insects that may be present. It also includes any insect behaviour such as insect feeding, timing of adult arrival to the body, and timing and location of egg laying on the body. This information provides evidentiary value regarding the time frame or conditions of the body prior to discovery. My research focuses on insect reproductive and foraging decisions. I examine the outcomes of those decisions on the ecology and development of offspring under different abiotic and biotic stresses within natural and managed agroecosystems. I propose to evaluate how human-derived and biological factors interact to change blow fly (Diptera: Calliphoridae) reproductive decisions and outcomes for offspring in dead animal based resource systems. Despite the direct applicability of these biological metrics to issues of human importance, there are numerous untested assumptions in the literature that tend to be generalized across the family as a whole. These include the specific location that eggs are laid, timing of egg laying, numbers of eggs laid, and lower temperature thresholds for development. Of the 36 species in North America that utilize carrion, or dead animals, basic developmental data exists for less than 1/4 of these species. Even with the few better studied species, there is still debate as to lower temperature thresholds for development and timing of egg laying. There is limited information regarding other influences such as humidity or the effect of species interactions on these life history traits. Specifically, my research will measure timing and site selection of egg laying, number of eggs laid, survival, size and development of offspring of different species of blow flies at a range of temperatures, humidities and on different types of animal tissues. These life history traits will be measured for individual blow fly species on their own, as well as in combination with other blow fly species to measure the effect of species combinations on the expression of these traits. Finally, I will measure the distribution of different types of animal tissue sources (i.e. garbage, road kill) along a gradient of human influence and measure this effect on blow fly species diversity and distribution. This research will provide vital understanding of specific blow fly species life history traits which have direct applicability as insect evidence. These data will be used to examine the complexities in process and function of how species assemble over space and time on patchy, ephemeral resources.