Dissertation Research: Microbial Activity on Wood in Streams: Exploring Abiotic and Biotic Factors Affecting the Structure and Function of Wood Biofilms

木质碎屑是大多数溪流生态系统的组成部分。在许多溪流和河流中，水生无脊椎动物的最高密度和产量与木材有关。对于许多水生无脊椎动物来说，它们的食物基础是木屑表面的微生物生物膜。影响这些生物膜的生物和非生物结构和功能的因素很少得到考虑。该项目利用微生物生长和活动的测量来实验测试光照水平、埋藏、凋落叶丰度和木材类型等因素对河流生态系统中生物膜的作用。这项研究很重要，因为它测试了与木屑相关的高产量的一些可能原因和机制。人类管理活动和自然干扰影响诸如到达溪流的光量、植被的类型和数量以及沉积物输入速率等变量。这些影响如何在溪流生态系统中产生共鸣将集中在木屑上，因为这个栖息地是一个高生物活性的区域。这项研究密切关注这一联系，以及影响微生物生长速度和在这一关键界面上活动速度的可能因素。

WEBSTER & TANK Woody debris is an integral part of most stream ecosystems. In many streams and rivers, the highest densities and rates of production for aquatic invertebrates are associated with wood. For many aquatic invertebrates, their food base is the microbial biofilm on the surfaces of woody debris. The factors which affect the structure and function, both biological and non-biological, of these biofilms has received little consideration. This project uses measurements of microbial growth and activity to experimentally test the roles of factors such as light levels, burial, leaf litter abundance, and wood type on biofilms in stream ecosystems. This research is important because it tests some of the possible causes and mechanisms for the high rates of production associated with woody debris. Human management activities and natural disturbances affect such variables as the amount of light reaching a stream, the types and amount of vegetation, and the rates of sediment input. How these impacts might resonate through the stream ecosystem will be focused on woody debris since this habitat is a region of high biological activity. This research looks closely at this link and possible factors influencing microbial growth rates and rates of activity at this crucial interface.