Arctic ecosystem dynamics: assessing long-term ecosystem effects of natural and anthropogenic disturbance in the Canadian Arctic.

我的研究团队使用了生态场数据（例如，物候，非生物条件，食物供应）和生物样本，以研究自然和人为干扰之间的自由生活，北极繁殖的捕食性鸟类的人口后果。使用北极游隼（隼peregrinus tundrius）作为研究模型，我的实验室一直专注于进行基础研究，有助于了解环境条件和生殖准备的变化如何结合联合收割机来影响长途移民的人口统计。为了更全面地了解社区动态，该提案寻求资金，以分担HQP领导的研究的成本，将生产者和消费者之间的互动纳入研究系统。与努纳武特政府合作进行，我的研究计划是很好的定位，以建立一个多十年的计划，能够调查营养水平之间的相互作用的方式，可以告知适应环境变化和北极野生动物的管理。我们在努纳武特的兰金湾社区附近建立了永久性采样点，以调查以下相关问题：1）植物物候和社区组成; 2）小型哺乳动物丰度的趋势; 3）鸟类丰度和分布; 4）节肢动物多样性和栖息地协会。这些组成部分的数据已经存在，采样点位于研究区域内，自1980年以来一直在研究游隼繁殖生态。与以前的研究一致，我的长期目标是检验可用食物供应（即，自然资源和天气，再加上繁殖准备，决定了在自由生活的北极繁殖掠食性鸟类中观察到的人口模式。更具体地说，我的短期目标是检验以下假设：1）游隼繁殖投资是由当前后代的价值和当前条件驱动的，权衡放弃当前繁殖而有利于自我投资和未来繁殖; 2）消费者访问率（昆虫传粉者）与高峰期资源可用性相关，这种相互作用的相对时间的任何相应变化都是物候不匹配的结果; 3）在没有脊椎动物食草动物的情况下，步甲对传播后种子的捕食是补偿性的，4）彼此靠近的不同植物物种，以及共享传粉者物种的植物物种，竞争授粉，以及; 5）节间联系的分布（即，食物网）表现出高度的通性（即，制服）。这里提出的工作明确承认热带各级生物和非生物相互作用的重要性，强调长期的年度数据收集，并解决有可能提供新的见解生态系统动态的问题和方法。

My research team has used ecological field data (e.g., phenology, abiotic conditions, food availability) and biological samples to examine demographic consequences of natural and anthropogenic disturbance among free-living, Arctic-breeding predatory birds. Using the Arctic peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus tundrius) as a study model, my lab has focused on conducting basic research that contributes to understanding how variation in environmental conditions and reproductive readiness combine to influence demography of a long-distance migrant. In an effort to understand community dynamics more completely, this proposal seeks funding to cost-share HQP-led research that incorporates interactions among producers and consumers into the study system. Conducted in collaboration with the Government of Nunavut, my research program is well positioned to establish a multi-decade program capable of investigating interactions among trophic levels in ways that can inform adaptation to environmental change and management of Arctic wildlife. We have established permanent sampling sites near the community of Rankin Inlet, Nunavut to investigate questions relevant to: 1) plant phenology and community composition; 2) trends in small mammal abundance; 3) avian abundance and distribution, and; 4) arthropod diversity and habitat associations. Data already exist for these components, and sampling sites are located within the study area where peregrine falcon breeding ecology has been studied since 1980. Consistent with previous study my long term objective is to test the working hypothesis that available food supply (i.e., resources) and weather, combined with reproductive readiness determine the demographic patterns observed among free-living, Arctic-breeding predatory birds. More specifically, my short term objectives are to test the following hypotheses: 1) that peregrine falcon reproductive investment is driven by the value of current offspring and current conditions, traded-off against forgoing current breeding in favor of self-investment and future breeding; 2) that visit rate by consumers (insect pollinators) is correlated with peak resource availability, and any corresponding shift in relative timing of this interaction is the result of phenological mismatch; 3) that post-dispersal seed predation by carabid beetles in the absence of vertebrate herbivores is compensatory, 4) that different plant species in close proximity to one another, and which that share pollinator species, compete for pollination, and; 5) that the distribution of inter-nodal links (i.e., food web) among four predator guilds exhibits high generalism (i.e., uniform). The work proposed here explicitly acknowledges the importance of biotic and abiotic interactions across tropic levels, emphasizes annual data collection over long time periods, and addresses questions and methods that have the potential to provide new insights into ecosystem dynamics.