ABR: Continuing Studies of the Role of Hydrodynamical and Biological Processes During Settlement of Infaunal Invertebrates

这是一项基于成就的更新奖，旨在继续研究水动力和生物过程在水生无脊椎动物沉降中的作用。研究的最终目的是确定空间尺度、水动力和生物学条件，在这些条件下，沉降幼虫对基质的选择性决定了观察到的成虫分布模式。该研究解决了以下三个一般性问题。1)有能力的幼虫位于水柱中的什么位置，它们的沉降速率与水流和沉积物特征的关系是什么？2)幼虫是否在实验室的几米空间尺度和野外的100米到公里空间尺度上主动选择首选基质？3)沉积物选择是如何在流动中完成的——也就是说，是否存在特定的幼虫行为，允许利用物理机制来促进主动选择，是否存在不可能进行选择的物理条件？解决这些问题的实验将在继续研究特定的动物无脊椎动物的沉积物选择能力作为生活史特征和成年栖息地亲和力的函数的同时进行。目的是通过对各种物种“类型”（例如，在生活史特征、分类位置和成虫栖息地亲和力方面）的实验室和实地研究相结合，反复总结关于定居在解释中尺度成虫分布方面的作用。

This is an Accomplishment-Based Renewal award to continue research on the role of hydrodynamical and biological processes during settlement of infaunal invertebrates. The ultimate goal of the research is to determine the spatial scales and hydrodynamical and biological conditions for which substrate selectivity by settling larvae account for observed adult patterns of distribution. The research addresses the following three general questions. 1) Where are competent larvae located within the water column and what is their settlement rate as a function of flow and sediment characteristics? 2) Do larvae actively select preferred substrates over spatial scales of meters in the laboratory and of 100's of meters to kilometers in the field? 3) How is sediment selection accomplished in flow -- that is, are there specific larval behaviors that permit exploitation of the physical regime to facilitate active selection and are there physical conditions for which selection is impossible? Experiments to address these question will be conducted while continuing the study of sediment selection capabilities of particular infaunal invertebrates as a function of life history characteristics and habitat affinity of adults. The intent is to iterate on generalizations regarding the role of settlement in explaining mesoscale adult distributions through a combination of laboratory and field studies on a variety of "types" of species (e.g., in terms of life history characteristics, taxonomic position and adult habitat affinity.