BIOCOMPLEXITY -- INCUBATION ACTIVITY: Developing conceptual and mathematical approaches to model transport and transformation of elements through a geothermal landscape

Colberg0083880长期以来一直认为，小尺度上生物和非生物过程之间的相互作用会影响大尺度上元素的移动和命运，然而，到目前为止，这种关系还没有在水生生态系统中得到系统的探索。这项工作的主要挑战之一是将小尺度(即微生物群落)的生物和物理化学控制与较大尺度(即河流网络)的生物和物理化学控制定量地结合起来，以便我们能够开始解决一些统一的问题，这些问题是生物复杂性研究的特征。黄石国家公园的河流是研究生物和非生物复杂性相互作用的理想系统。例如，麦迪逊河上游的排水系统受到地热活动的强烈影响，地热活动产生了涉及温度、氧化还原电位、主要离子和微量元素的尖锐空间梯度。这些物理化学特征反过来又推动了微生物和后生动物多样性和功能的变化。与近年来被深入研究的温泉不同，这种独特的地热景观中的溪流和河流仍然很少受到研究。由于这些河流的地热输入在空间上是可变的，元素(如铁、磷、碳、氮)的输入和反应也将表现出空间变异性，这将影响生物群落的分布和组成。拟议孵化活动的目标是：(1)开发新的研究互动，以促进沿黄石国家公园地热梯度的生物复杂性研究；(2)开发关于麦迪逊盆地上游的科学数据库；以及(3)为项目团队及其学生组织和赞助两个研讨会，分别侧重于数学建模和将生物群落结构与生态系统功能联系起来。

Colberg0083880It has long been hypothesized that interactions between biotic and abiotic processes at small scales affect the movement and fate of elements at large scales, yet, to date, this relationship has not been systematically explored in aquatic ecosystems. One of the major challenges of such work is to quantitatively integrate the biological and physicochemical controls at small scales (i.e., microbial communities) with those of larger scales (i.e., river networks), so that we can begin to address some of the unifying questions that characterize biocomplexity research.Rivers in Yellowstone National Park are ideal systems in which to examine the interactions of biotic and abiotic complexity. The Upper Madison River drainage, for example, is strongly influenced by geothermal activity that produces sharp spatial gradients involving temperature, redox potential, major ions, and trace elements. These physicochemical features, in turn, drive changes in mocrobial and metazoan diversity and functions. Unlike hot springs, which have been intensively studied in recent years, streams and rivers in this unique geothermal landscape remain much less examined. Because geothermal inputs are spatially variable along these rivers, the inputs and reactions of elements (e.g., irons, phosphorus, carbon, nitrogen) are also expected to exhibit spatial variability that will affect the distribution and composition of biological communities.The objectives of the proposed incubation activities are to: (1) develop new research interactions that will facilitate biocomplexity research along geothermal gradients in Yellowstone National Park; (2) develop a scientific database on the Upper Madison Basin; and (3) organize and sponsor two workshops for the project team and their students that will focus on mathematical modeling and linking biological community structure with ecosystem function, respectively.