CAREER: An Undergraduate-Intensive Research Program in Experimental Conservation Ecology

职业：实验保护生态学本科强化研究项目

• 批准号: 1650554
• 负责人: Kevin Smith
• 金额: $ 77.03万
• 依托单位: Davidson College
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2017-04-15 至 2024-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1650554&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CAREER; Undergraduate; Intensive; Research; Program

Biodiversity, the variety of different species living in a particular geographic region, is important to the functioning of local ecosystems and provides for many of humanity's needs. There is a pressing need in ecology and conservation biology to better understand the underlying processes leading to species extinction with the goal of developing predictive models for local, regional, and ultimately global extinctions. Although general threats to biodiversity are well-documented, there is less consensus about why one species may go extinct while others persist in response to one particular disturbance or threat. This suggests that the key question to understanding modern biodiversity loss is not what causes extinctions, but why do some species go extinct, while others survive? This study examines the loss of species from aquatic and terrestrial environments due to a variety of disturbances. These disturbances will include the loss of habitat area, and the introduction of predators and novel species. Mathematical models will be developed to predict and test for different outcomes. Of key interest is determining the degree to which the loss of species is due to chance events alone and the degree to which the characteristics of species that make some more susceptible to being lost than others. This work will engage undergraduate students in the development, design and implementation of each stage of the project. This research training of undergraduates in experimental design and theory and the use of modeling approaches will prepare the next generation of scientists to address pressing environmental issues. Empirical data and perspectives provide conflicting evidence as to whether species extirpations and extinctions are best explained by random chance or by selective trait-based processes. This proposal uses artificial aquatic and terrestrial mesocosm environments to test a framework for clarifying when probability alone or ecological determinism, acting through species identity and traits, predict and explain patterns of local and regional extinctions. Through a combination of manipulative experiments, modeling and null analyses, this study will 1) test the prediction that local extinctions caused by habitat loss will be explained by species rarity alone; 2) determine whether delayed extinctions (extinction debt) after habitat loss are the function of random chance or selective, deterministic processes; and 3) test whether ostensibly selective disturbances, such as predator addition and habitat homogenization, may overwhelm the importance of random chance and rarity in explaining patterns of local and regional extinction. Understanding how and why species go extinct will allow for the prediction and prevention of extinctions, which is essential for the successful management and conservation of biodiversity.

生物多样性是生活在特定地理区域中的各种不同物种，对当地生态系统的运作至关重要，并满足了人类的许多需求。生态学和保护生物学的需求迫切需要更好地了解导致物种灭绝的基本过程，目的是为当地，区域和最终全球灭绝开发预测模型。尽管对生物多样性的普遍威胁有据可查，但关于一个物种可能会灭绝的原因，而其他人则持续响应一种特殊的干扰或威胁，他们的共识较少。这表明了解现代生物多样性损失的关键问题不是导致灭绝的原因，但是为什么有些物种灭绝，而另一些物种生存？这项研究检查了由于各种干扰，水生和陆地环境中物种的损失。这些干扰将包括栖息地区域的丧失以及捕食者和新型物种的引入。将开发数学模型来预测和测试不同的结果。关键兴趣的是确定物种损失仅仅是由于偶然事件的损失以及使某些物种比其他人更容易丢失的物种的特征。这项工作将使本科生参与项目的每个阶段的开发，设计和实施。对实验设计和理论的本科生的研究培训以及建模方法的使用将使下一代科学家准备解决紧迫的环境问题。经验数据和观点提供了相互矛盾的证据，表明是通过随机机会还是通过基于选择性性状的过程来最好地解释物种的消除和灭绝。该提案使用人工水生和陆地中级环境来测试一个框架，以阐明何时单独或生态决定论，通过物种认同和特征作用，预测和解释局部和区域灭绝的模式。通过操纵实验，建模和无效分析的结合，这项研究将1）测试一个预测，栖息地丧失引起的局部灭绝将仅通过物种稀有性来解释； 2）确定栖息地损失后延迟的灭绝（灭绝债务）是否是随机机会或选择性，确定性过程的功能； 3）测试表面上选择性干扰（例如捕食者的添加和栖息地均匀化）是否会淹没随机机会和稀有性在解释局部和区域灭绝模式中的重要性。了解物种如何以及为什么灭绝将允许预测和预防灭绝，这对于成功管理和保护生物多样性至关重要。

项目成果

When are extinctions simply bad luck? Rarefaction as a framework for disentangling selective and stochastic extinctions

• DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.13510
• 发表时间: 2019
• 期刊: Journal of Applied Ecology
• 影响因子: 5.7
• 作者: Kevin G. Smith;Ryan J. Almeida

Selective extinctions resulting from random habitat destruction lead to under‐estimates of local and regional biodiversity loss in a manipulative field experiment

随机栖息地破坏导致的选择性灭绝导致在现场操作实验中低估了当地和区域生物多样性丧失

• DOI: 10.1111/gcb.15464
• 发表时间: 2020
• 期刊: Global Change Biology
• 影响因子: 11.6
• 作者: Almeida, Ryan J.;Berro, Alexander A. G.;Lippert, Alston;Clary, Jake;McKlin, Sam;Scott, Erin V.;Smith, Kevin G.
• 通讯作者: Smith, Kevin G.

Low Abundance of Three Tick Species in the Piedmont of North Carolina

北卡罗来纳州皮埃蒙特地区三种蜱虫的丰度较低

• DOI: 10.1093/jme/tjaa171
• 发表时间: 2020
• 期刊: Journal of medical entomology
• 影响因子: 2.1
• 作者: Seagle, MP;Vierling, MR;Almeida, RJ;Clary, DJ;Hidell, W;Scott, EV;Vargas, C;Smith, KG
• 通讯作者: Smith, KG

Fire as a fundamental ecological process: Research advances and frontiers

• DOI: 10.1111/1365-2745.13403
• 发表时间: 2020-06-08
• 期刊: JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
• 影响因子: 5.5
• 作者: McLauchlan, Kendra K.;Higuera, Philip E.;Watts, Adam C.
• 通讯作者: Watts, Adam C.