Key Connections in Arctic Aquatic Landscapes

该项目旨在了解水生生态系统不同部分之间的重要联系，包括从高地到河岸带，从河岸带到地表沃茨，从溪流到湖泊，以及从湖泊到其出口。 来自7个机构的12名科学家在这项研究上合作了20年;该项目将继续对北极水生环境进行长期研究和实验。 其中一些长期实验将继续进行，并与调查、详细的过程研究和建模相结合，以回答有关生态系统之间联系的主要问题。 该研究的成果将被纳入几个模型，包括水文-植物-土壤模型，流氮模型，湖泊过程模型和鱼类能量学模型。 通过这些模型，这些水生生态系统目前的综合观点将被正式化;建模也将有助于确定研究差距和预测扰动的影响。 这项研究对于所有水生系统的基本理解特别重要，因为所研究的系统是最后的原始水生系统之一，它们具有相对简单的食物网，可以进行实验，并且它们存在于极端环境中，需要栖息在其中的生物体进行特殊适应。

This project is designed to understand the important connections that occur among different parts of the aquatic ecosystem including those from uplands to the riparian zone, from the riparian zone to surface waters, from streams to lakes, and from lakes to their outlets. Twelve scientists from seven institutions have collaborated for 20 years on this research; this project will continue long-term studies and experiments on the arctic aquatic environment. Some of these long-term experiments will be continued and combined with surveys, detailed process studies, and modeling to answer major questions about the linkages among ecosystems. The products of the research will be incorporated into several models including a hydrology-plant-soil model, a stream nitrogen model, a lake process model, and a fish energetics model. Through these models the present synthetic view of these aquatic ecosystems will be formalized; modeling will also aid in identification of research gaps and prediction of effects of perturbations. This research is especially relevant for the fundamental understanding of all aquatic systems because the systems studied are among the last pristine aquatic systems, they have relatively simple food webs that are amenable to experimentation, and they exist in extreme environments that require special adaptations by the organisms that inhabit them.