| NSF Org: |
DEB Division Of Environmental Biology |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | June 8, 2007 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | June 8, 2007 |
| Award Number: | 0710128 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Richard S. Inouye
DEB Division Of Environmental Biology BIO Directorate for Biological Sciences |
| Start Date: | June 15, 2007 |
| End Date: | May 31, 2009 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $11,987.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $11,987.00 |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
1 UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO ALBUQUERQUE NM US 87131-0001 (505)277-4186 |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
1 UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO ALBUQUERQUE NM US 87131-0001 |
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Performance Congressional District: |
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| NSF Program(s): | POP & COMMUNITY ECOL PROG |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.074 |
ABSTRACT
Nutrient dynamics within plant-animal communities are critical, yet poorly understood, drivers of the reproductive and population dynamics of predators. This is the first study that attempts to link nutrient allocation in insectivorous lizards to variation in insect prey quality resulting from seasonal and rain-driven variation in plant nutritional quality. At the Sevilleta LTER in New Mexico, summer monsoons drive the production of plants using C4 photosynthesis. These C4 plants are less nutritious for insect consumers than winter-rain-driven, spring dominant C3 plants. This study will measure and use a remarkable combination of naturally occurring differences in stable isotopes, lipid-protein content and seasonal abundance of these plants and insects, interlinked with a laboratory-based experiment, to explore the importance of nutritional variation in C3 and C4 resources for lizard reproduction at seasonal and inter-annual timescales.
Broader impacts: This project will broaden the scope of current ecology investigations by linking precipitation and plant growth to the nutritional ecology and reproductive physiology of insect and vertebrate consumers. These data will also provide insight into how climate change may impact the ecology of plant-animal communities. Lastly, this study will enrich middle school science education through collaborations between Sevilleta LTER researchers and GK-12 educators.
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