QEIB: Spatial Ecologies Under Temporal Variation

QEIB：时间变化下的空间生态

• 批准号: 0342689
• 负责人: Thomas Caraco
• 金额: $ 29.66万
• 依托单位: SUNY at Albany
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2004
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2004-07-01 至 2008-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0342689&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: QEIB; Spatial; Ecologies; Under; Temporal

An increased understanding of processes allowing one species to "invade" the area occupied by another will help answer fundamental questions in ecology. Just as importantly, a predictive understanding of biological invasion should increase our capacity to respond effectively to alien species that increasingly impose economic problems on agriculture and threaten native biodiversity across North America. Ecologists recognize that biological invasion often depends on the way invaders are initially clustered, but most available models poorly approximate consequences of these spatial patterns. Our research applies nucleation theory, developed in physics, to the invader-clustering problem. Physicists originally developed nucleation theory to explain a variety of process, such as crystallization in solids, the formation of snowflakes or hailstones in the atmosphere, and growth of magnetic domains in certain materials. Each such process begins with one or more small "nuclei," which may disappear or grow, depending on the environment in which they form. We apply the theory to predict when spatial clusters of an invading biological species will disappear, or when clusters will grow, combine and alter the native ecological community. Conducting the research will further allow us to introduce questions in biology to physics students, and to train biology students in quantitative methods.

对过程的越来越多，使一个物种“入侵”另一个物种被另一物种占领的区域将有助于回答生态学的基本问题。 同样重要的是，对生物学入侵的预测理解应提高我们对越来越多的外国物种做出有效反应的能力，这些物种越来越多地将经济问题施加在农业上，并威胁着整个北美的本地生物多样性。 生态学家认识到，生物学入侵通常取决于入侵者最初聚集的方式，但是大多数可用模型对这些空间模式的后果差异很差。 我们的研究将成核理论应用于物理学开发，用于入侵群集问题。 物理学家最初开发了成核理论，以解释各种过程，例如固体中的结晶，雪花或大气中冰雹的形成以及某些材料中磁性域的生长。 每个这样的过程始于一个或多个小的“核”，它可能会消失或生长，具体取决于它们形成的环境。 我们应用理论来预测入侵生物物种的空间簇何时消失，或者何时将簇生长，结合和改变本地生态群落。 进行研究将进一步使我们能够向物理学生介绍生物学问题，并以定量方法培训生物学学生。