U.S.-Japan Cooperative Science: Spatio-Temporal Variation in Plant Demography: Development and Applications

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole MA

Investigators

Abstract

0003711 Caswell This award supports a two-year collaborative research project between Dr. Hal Caswell of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Massachusetts and Professor Takenori Takada of Hokkaido Tokai University in Japan. The researchers will undertake research on the spatio-temporal variation in plant demography: development and applications. Environments vary in space and time, and among the central problems in ecology are the documentation, analysis, and understanding of the consequences of this variation. Demographic models provide a powerful way to link data on environmental variation in individual rates of birth, survival, growth, and development to the resulting consequences for population growth. This project will combine recent developments in such models with a unique long-term data set documenting both spatial and temporal variation in a population of Erythronium japonicum, a perennial forest understory herb in Japan. They will use linear, nonlinear, and stochastic matrix population models to describe the population dynamics. Extensions of life table response experiment (LTRE) analysis will be used to quantify the contribution of each stage in the life cycle to spatial and temporal variation in (i) population growth rate, (ii) equilibrium population density, and (iii) stochastic population growth rate. The results will be the most complete analysis ever attempted of spatio-temporal variation in plant population dynamics. The project brings together the efforts of two laboratories that have complementary expertise and research capabilities. Through the exchange of ideas and technology, this project will broaden our base of basic knowledge and promote international understanding and cooperation. The researchers plan to publish results of their research in scientific journals and report on the findings at scientific meetings.