Collaborative Research: Species Interactions in Range Dynamics and Changing Environments: Stochastic Models and Experiments

协作研究：范围动态和变化环境中的物种相互作用：随机模型和实验

• 批准号: 1457652
• 负责人: Alan Hastings
• 金额: $ 50.2万
• 依托单位: University of California-Davis
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2015-07-15 至 2021-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1457652&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Species; Interactions; Range

The spread of an invasive species is a poorly understood ecological phenomenon, yet it is of great practical importance causing an estimated $120 billion in damages per year. Current theory largely considers the situation of a single species invading into a stable habitat. Those models are inadequate to address the realistic situation of invasive species interacting with competitor species as the invasion front moves across the landscape. They also do not incorporate the fact that habitats themselves can shift on the landscape as a result of climatic and other environmental changes. For example, rapid movement of habitats toward the poles and higher elevations is a contemporary, global phenomenon. This research project will develop new theory, backed by experiments with model species in the laboratory, to explain how species invasions are shaped by the presence of competitor species, and the situation of habitats shifting on the landscape. This work will advance ecological science by providing a stronger theoretical basis for projections of species range shifts driven by invasive species and climate, and provide models useful to land managers, public health officials, and conservation biologists concerned with the spread of invasive species. This project will provide hands on training and experience to biologists from undergraduate students to postdoctoral scholars, enabling them to become the leaders of the next generation of scientists tackling complex problems in biology.Important new phenomena for range dynamics emerge when two or more species are considered, and especially given that at the edge of any species range, densities are low, stochasticity must play an important role. Stochastic models will be developed together with highly replicated, microcosm experiments using a flour beetle model system. The research will determine 1) how interactions with a resident species modify the range expansion of an invader and its effect on the resident; 2) how species interactions and stochasticity set species ranges in stationary heterogeneous environments; and 3) how species interactions, stochasticity, and moving environments set species ranges and alter spatial community structure.

入侵物种的扩散是一种人们知之甚少的生态现象，但它具有重大的实际意义，每年造成估计 1200 亿美元的损失。 目前的理论主要考虑单个物种入侵稳定栖息地的情况。 这些模型不足以解决入侵物种在入侵前沿穿过景观时与竞争物种相互作用的现实情况。 它们也没有考虑到栖息地本身会因气候和其他环境变化而在景观上发生变化的事实。 例如，栖息地向两极和更高海拔地区的快速迁移是当代的全球现象。 该研究项目将在实验室模型物种实验的支持下发展新理论，解释竞争物种的存在如何影响物种入侵，以及栖息地在景观上的变化情况。 这项工作将为预测入侵物种和气候驱动的物种范围变化提供更强有力的理论基础，从而推动生态科学的发展，并为关注入侵物种传播的土地管理者、公共卫生官员和保护生物学家提供有用的模型。 该项目将为从本科生到博士后学者的生物学家提供实践培训和经验，使他们成为解决生物学复杂问题的下一代科学家的领导者。当考虑两个或多个物种时，范围动力学的重要新现象就会出现，特别是考虑到在任何物种范围的边缘，密度都很低，随机性必须发挥重要作用。 随机模型将与使用面粉甲虫模型系统的高度重复的微观实验一起开发。 该研究将确定：1）与驻留物种的相互作用如何改变入侵者的范围扩张及其对驻留物种的影响； 2）物种相互作用和随机性如何在固定异质环境中设定物种范围； 3）物种相互作用、随机性和移动环境如何设定物种范围并改变空间群落结构。