EAGER: The causes and consequences of spatial modularity for populations

EAGER：人口空间模块化的原因和后果

• 批准号: 1343144
• 负责人: Robert Fletcher
• 金额: $ 14.99万
• 依托单位: University of Florida
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2013-08-01 至 2016-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1343144&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: EAGER; causes; consequences; spatial; modularity

Understanding the factors influencing the persistence of animal and plant populations lies at the heart of ecology and is essential for interpreting the effects of ongoing environmental change. The concept of spatial modularity, borrowed from physics and social sciences, has great potential to increase our understanding of population persistence and landscape connectivity under environmental change. In population ecology, spatial modularity occurs when resource patches are highly connected to other patches through movement of organisms, but only weakly connected to the remaining patches in the landscape. This Early Concept Grant for Exploratory Research (EAGER) project will assess the utility of the spatial modularity concept in ecology by using a highly modular, consumer-resource system of a cactus-feeding insect and patchy, prickly pear cactus. This research will couple field experiments and surveys with network modeling to address two major objectives: estimate the consequences of spatial modularity for populations undergoing habitat loss; and identify the causes of spatial modularity. The concept of spatial modularity extends ideas in ecology regarding different types of meta-populations, provides new insight to patch importance for connectivity, and complements work on patch aggregation in ecology by identifying the spatial and non-spatial roles of movement on dynamics. While spatial modularity holds much potential for ecology, no experimental tests of this phenomenon have occurred, and the causes and consequences of this phenomenon have received little empirical attention. This project will be the first to test if spatial modularity increases meta-population persistence, reduces negative effects of habitat loss, better predicts dynamics and connectivity compared to existing approaches, and is a fundamental scale for population dynamics. The modularity concept is highly relevant to applied ecology, e.g., managing wildlife population under environmental change, and designing habitat units to achieve conservation goals. To facilitate these applications, this project will include a practical training workshop for applied scientists and conservation practitioners on the concept and application of "Managing for Modularity". In addition, this project will provide field research experiences for high school, undergraduate, and graduated students, and will support the training of a postdoctoral researcher in quantitative spatial ecology.

了解影响动物和植物种群持久性的因素是生态学的核心，对于解释持续环境变化的影响至关重要。 从物理和社会科学借用的空间模块化的概念具有巨大的潜力，可以增强我们对环境变化下人口持久性和景观连接的理解。在人群生态学中，当资源斑块通过生物体的运动高度连接到其他斑块时，就会发生空间模块化，但仅与景观中其余的斑块无关。这项早期的探索性研究概念赠款（急切）项目将通过使用高度模块化的仙人掌喂养昆虫和斑点，刺刺的梨仙人掌的模块化，消费者资源系统来评估生态学中空间模块化概念的实用性。这项研究将将现场实验和调查与网络建模相结合，以解决两个主要目标：估计空间模块化对遭受栖息地损失的人群的后果；并确定空间模块化的原因。 空间模块化的概念扩展了有关不同类型的荟萃种群的生态思想，为贴片的重要性提供了新的见解，并通过识别动态运动的空间和非空间作用来补充生态学的斑块聚集。 尽管空间模块化具有很大的生态潜力，但没有发生过这种现象的实验测试，并且这种现象的原因和后果几乎没有得到经验的关注。该项目将是第一个测试空间模块化是否增加了元群体持久性，减少栖息地丧失的负面影响，更好地预测与现有方法相比的动态和连接性的负面影响，并且是人口动态的基本规模。模块化概念与应用生态学高度相关，例如在环境变化下管理野生动植物种群，并设计栖息地单元以实现保护目标。 为了促进这些应用程序，该项目将包括针对应用科学家和保护从业人员的实践培训研讨会，以“模块化管理”的概念和应用。 此外，该项目将为高中，本科生和毕业生提供现场研究经验，并将支持对定量空间生态学的博士后研究人员的培训。