Trait-shift induced interaction modification: How individual variation affects ecosystem stability

性状转变引起的相互作用修改：个体变异如何影响生态系统稳定性

• 批准号: 2330970
• 负责人: BingKan Xue
• 金额: $ 56.13万
• 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: 2024
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2024-05-01 至 2027-04-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2330970&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Trait; shift; induced; interaction; modification

Individual organisms of the same species can exhibit substantial variation in traits that are important for their interaction with the environment and other species. The distribution of such variable traits within a species can shift over time. For example, behavioral traits can change quickly in response to environmental change or species interactions. The dynamic shift of trait distribution within a species can modify the interaction patterns among species and ultimately affect the stability of ecosystems. However, the prevalence and significance of such effects have not been evaluated systematically. This research project aims to fill in the gap by integrating theoretical and empirical approaches. A mathematical framework will be developed to classify different types of interaction modification and identify conditions that would destabilize ecosystems. Additionally, a comprehensive survey of empirical studies will be conducted to assess the level of evidence for the various types of interaction modification identified above and provide criteria for evaluating past and future case studies. This project will train young researchers in the interdisciplinary area between mathematics and ecology to address important environmental and ecological problems facing the next generation. In addition, educational kits and programs will be designed to promote teaching of important ecological concepts and engage underrepresented groups in K-12 schools. Intraspecific trait variation has been increasingly recognized as an important factor in determining ecological and evolutionary dynamics. Although some work has examined how the variation of heritable traits affects eco-evolutionary dynamics, non-heritable variation caused by phenotypic plasticity, developmental differences, or species interactions has received less consideration. Ecosystems have traditionally been studied as dynamical systems with fixed interaction strengths, but these interaction strengths will no longer be constant if the trait distributions can shift within short timescales. Such “trait-shift induced interaction modification” (TSIIM) can lead to higher-order interactions among species, causing species extinction or coexistence that are otherwise unexpected. This project will develop a theoretical framework for studying TSIIM by generalizing traditional dynamical systems to incorporate intraspecific trait variation and categorizing these systems into different network motifs. The effect on large ecosystems will be studied using a disordered systems approach augmented by the new motifs. Meta-analysis of these motifs using empirical studies will provide insight on the mechanisms by which higher-order interactions arise from TSIIM, prompting experimental searches for such phenomena and their consequences.This project is jointly funded by the Mathematical Biology Program at the Division of Mathematical Sciences and the Population and Community Ecology Cluster in the Division of Environmental Biology at the Directorate for Biological Sciences.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.

同一物种的个别组织可以表现出对与环境和其他物种相互作用至关重要的特征的实质性差异。这种可变特征在一个物种中的分布会随着时间的流逝而变化。例如，行为特征可以响应环境变化或物种相互作用而迅速变化。特征分布在物种中的动态转移可以改变物种之间的相互作用模式，并最终影响生态系统的稳定性。但是，这种影响的患病率和意义尚未系统地评估。该研究项目旨在通过整合理论和经验方法来填补空白。将开发一个数学框架来对不同类型的交互修改进行分类并确定会破坏生态系统稳定的条件。此外，将对经验研究进行全面调查，以评估上述各种相互作用修改的证据水平，并为评估过去和将来的案例研究提供标准。该项目将培训数学和生态学之间跨学科领域的年轻研究人员，以解决下一代面临的重要环境和生态问题。此外，教育套件和计划将旨在促进重要的生态概念的教学，并在K-12学校中涉及代表性不足的群体。种内性状变化已被越来越被公认为是确定生态和进化动力学的重要因素。尽管某些工作已经研究了可遗传性状的变化如何影响生态进化动态，但由表型可塑性，发育差异或物种相互作用引起的非可遗物变化受到了较少的考虑。传统上，生态系统被研究为具有固定相互作用强度的动态系统，但是如果特征分布可以在短时间内发生变化，这些相互作用强度将不再是恒定的。这种“特征转移诱导的相互作用修饰”（TSIIM）可以导致物种之间的高阶相互作用，从而导致物种扩展或共存，否则是出乎意料的。该项目将通过概括传统的动态系统来融合种内性状变化并将这些系统分类为不同的网络基础，来开发一个理论框架来研究TSIIM。使用新主题增强的无序系统方法，将对大型生态系统的影响进行研究。使用经验研究对这些基准进行的荟萃分析将提供有关TSIIM引起高阶相互作用的机制的见解NSF的法定使命，并使用基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的审查标准来评估，被认为是宝贵的支持。