The Role of Ultraviolet Radiation in Structuring Freshwater Zooplankton Communities: Interactions with Predation

9509042威廉姆森关于什么过程规范社区组织的问题长期以来一直是生态学的一个中心主题。随着越来越多的证据表明气候和UV-B辐射等非生物因素发生了重要变化，我们需要更好地了解自然群落中非生物和生物变量之间的相互作用。虽然关于捕食和可见光在构建湖泊中上层群落中的作用已知很多，但对这些中上层群落中破坏性短波太阳辐射的生态了解甚少。这项研究的目的是研究破坏性太阳辐射(DSR)在浮游动物群落中的作用，更具体地说，研究这一非生物因素与捕食(一种重要的生物因素)之间的生态相互作用。溶解有机碳(DOC)是控制湖泊中以及湖泊之间沿垂直梯度的破坏性太阳辐射衰减的主要因素。在这项研究中，将检验几个关于DOC和DSR在宾夕法尼亚州和阿拉斯加环境梯度上对浮游动物群落的交互影响的假设。将使用现场和实验室的操作和观察来验证这些假设。对损害太阳辐射的关注对水生生态系统的群落结构和功能具有重要影响。浮游动物是水生食物网中的关键环节，它们的分布和丰度对水质和能量向较高营养水平的转移具有重要影响。收集的数据还将有助于评估生物体对湖泊内和湖泊之间破坏性太阳辐射梯度的生理和行为反应的相对重要性。

9509042 Williamson Questions about what processes regulate community organization have been a central theme in ecology for a long time. With increasing evidence for important changes in abiotic factors such as climate, and UV-B radiation, our need for a better understanding of the interactions between abiotic and biotic variables in natural communities becomes crucial. While a great deal is known about the role of predation and visible light in structuring pelagic communities in lakes, the ecology of damaging short wavelength solar radiation in these pelagic communities is poorly understood. The objective of the proposed research is to investigate the role of damaging solar radiation (DSR) in zooplankton communities, and more specifically, to examine the ecological interactions between this abiotic factor and predation, an important biotic factor. Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) is the primary factor controlling attenuation of damaging solar radiation along a vertical gradient in lakes, as well as among lakes. In this study, several hypotheses will be tested regarding the interactive effects of DOC and DSR on zooplankton communities along environmental gradients in Pennsylvania and Alaska. Both field and laboratory manipulations and observations will be used to test these hypotheses. The focus on damaging solar radiation has important implications for community structure and function in aquatic ecosystems. Zooplankton provide a key link in aquatic food webs and their distribution and abundance has important implications for both water quality and energy transfer to higher trophic levels. The data collected will also permit evaluation of the relative importance of physiological versus behavioral responses of organisms to gradients of damaging solar radiation both within and among lakes.