Collaborative Research: Reconciling the interaction patterns of highly functional and resistant ecological communities

合作研究：协调高功能和抗性生态群落的相互作用模式

• 批准号: 2009075
• 负责人: Lauren Ponisio
• 金额: $ 51.05万
• 依托单位: University of Oregon Eugene
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-08-01 至 2024-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2009075&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Reconciling; interaction; patterns

Ecological communities consist of species that interact with each other in many ways. An interaction in which both species benefit is called a "mutualistic" interaction. For example, in pollination plants receive pollen to produce seeds and the pollinators receive food. Some pollination partnerships may be unique and specialized, with each species depending on services that can be provided only by a single partner. Other pollination partnerships may be general and interchangeable, with many species providing the same services. If all partnerships are interchangeable, then communities may remain stable if their species change due to environmental stress. But if partnerships are unique and specialized, then communities may be very sensitive to stress. Thus, understanding how species interact in the way they do is a central question in ecology. This research will explore how different types of interactions (unique and specialized vs. interchangeable and generalized) affect how well plants and pollinators reproduce and how long their populations can persist in the face of environmental change. The study will focus on the plants and pollinators of the Madrean "sky islands", mountaintop meadows separated by lowland deserts in the southwestern United States. The study will help guide conservation and management of these unusual habitats and provide mentoring of students interested in ecological field work.Network theory predicts that highly redundant and generalized networks of interactions maximize resistant to disturbance, whereas specialized, complementary networks maximize function. While such tradeoffs are assumed to be an inherent part of biological network organization, it is not known what ecological and evolutionary processes mediate them, preserving populations and maintaining network structure. Further, though interactions may be heterogeneous across both organismal (individual to species) and temporal scales (single interactions to multiple interactions across generations), the potential for this variability to drive both network structure and ecological function has not been systematically explored. This research will forge new ground by testing how mechanisms at different levels of biological organization simultaneously confer function and resistance within networks. By quantifying individual- and species-level networks, along with short- and long-term fitness outcomes, the researchers will examine the relationship between network structure, function and resistance, and their impact on plant and animal population dynamics across a biogeographic gradient.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

生态群落由多种方式相互作用的物种组成。两种物种益处的相互作用称为“互动”相互作用。 例如，在授粉中，植物会收到花粉产生种子，而传粉媒介则接受食物。 某些授粉合作伙伴关系可能是独特而专业的，每个物种都取决于只能由单个合作伙伴提供的服务。其他授粉合作伙伴关系可能是一般且可互换的，许多物种提供相同的服务。如果所有伙伴关系都是可以互换的，那么如果由于环境压力而变化，社区可能会保持稳定。但是，如果伙伴关系是独特而专业的，那么社区可能对压力非常敏感。因此，了解物种如何以其方式相互作用是生态学中的一个核心问题。这项研究将探讨不同类型的相互作用（独特和专业与可互换和广义）如何影响植物和授粉媒介的繁殖效果以及面对环境变化的人群可以持续多长时间。这项研究将重点关注马德里亚“天空岛”的植物和传粉媒介，山顶的草地在美国西南部的低地沙漠分开。这项研究将有助于指导和管理这些异常栖息地，并提供对生态领域工作感兴趣的学生的指导。网络理论预测，高度冗余和广义的相互作用网络可最大程度地抵抗干扰，而专门的，互补的网络最大程度地提高了功能。尽管认为这种权衡被认为是生物网络组织的固有部分，但尚不知道生态和进化过程介导了它们，维护人群并维持网络结构。此外，尽管相互作用在生物体（个体到物种）和时间尺度（与世代相传的多个相互作用的单一相互作用）之间可能是异质的，但这种变异的潜力均可探索网络结构和生态功能。这项研究将通过测试不同水平的生物组织的机制同时赋予网络中的功能和抵抗力来建立新的基础。通过量化个人和物种水平的网络，以及短期和长期的健身结果，研究人员将研究网络结构，功能和抵抗力之间的关系及其对生物地理梯度中动植物人群动态的影响。该奖项反映了NSF的立法使命，并通过使用基础的知识效果和广泛的评估来评估，并值得通过评估来进行评估。