Dissertation Research: Preference and performance in plant-herbivore interactions across latitutde

论文研究：跨纬度植物与草食动物相互作用的偏好和表现

• 批准号: 0709923
• 负责人: Steven Pennings
• 金额: $ 0.96万
• 依托单位: University of Houston
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2007
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2007-06-01 至 2009-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0709923&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Dissertation; Research; Preference; performance; plant

Studying latitudinal patterns in diversity and species interactions is important because it can reveal fundamental effects of geography and climate on ecological processes. Research has shown that plants at higher latitudes are more palatable to herbivores. However, it is unknown if increased palatability of plants will lead to increased performance of herbivores. If it does, is better herbivore performance explained by better plant nutritional quality? To answer these questions, this project is using plants and associated herbivores from 16 salt marsh sites along the U.S. Atlantic Coast, from Florida to Maine. This project is measuring plant traits and herbivore sizes in the field, and herbivore performance in the laboratory. Preliminary data indicated that plants from high latitudes supported better herbivore growth. Whether high latitude plants are more nutritious is being investigated by chemical analyses funded by this proposal.This project will help develop a larger-scale understanding of ecological process, which is important as humans face the consequences of global change and other anthropogenic impacts that act at large scales. In addition, it will support the Ph.D. research of one graduate student.

研究多样性和物种相互作用中的纬度模式很重要，因为它可以揭示地理和气候对生态过程的基本影响。 研究表明，较高纬度的植物更适合食草动物。 但是，尚不清楚植物的可口性是否会导致食草动物的性能提高。 如果这样做，可以通过更好的植物营养品质来解释更好的草食动物性能吗？ 为了回答这些问题，该项目正在使用从佛罗里达到缅因州的16个盐沼泽地的植物和食草动物。 该项目正在测量该领域的植物特征和草食动物的大小，以及在实验室中的草食动物性能。 初步数据表明，高纬度的植物支持更好的草食动物生长。 该提案资助的化学分析是否正在研究高纬度植物。该项目将有助于发展对生态过程的更广泛的了解，这很重要，因为人类面临着全球变化和其他人为影响的后果大尺度。 此外，它将支持博士学位。一名研究生的研究。