Dissertation Research: Dispersal within and among Stream Corridors: Implications for the Distribution and Population Structure of Stoneflies in the White Mountain National Forest

虽然溪流是分布在陆地景观中的水生栖息地网络，但人们对这些网络的模式如何影响生活在其中的生物的分布知之甚少。 本研究的目的是探讨如何石蝇，一组昆虫，发展为幼虫在溪流和生活在森林中的成年人，在溪流中分散，以及如何流的模式影响石蝇的分布在白色山国家森林的新罕布什尔州。 利用稳定同位素，将在森林中追踪成年石蝇，以测量飞行距离。 将开发一个模型来预测个体昆虫和栖息地特征如何影响飞行模式。 历史传播模式将通过使用分子遗传学评估个体的相关性来间接估计。这项研究将提供一个更好的了解水生昆虫种群是如何整合流之间，并将有助于预测干扰如何影响人口分布在连接的栖息地。

Although streams are networks of aquatic habitat that are distributed across a terrestrial landscapes; little is known about how the patterns of these networks affect the distributions of organisms that live within them. The objective of this research is to examine how stoneflies, a group of insects that develop as larvae in streams and live in the forest as adults, disperse among streams, and how the patterns of streams affect the distribution of stoneflies in the White Mountain National Forest of New Hampshire. Using stable isotopes, adult stoneflies will be tracked in the forest to measure flight distances. A model will be developed to predict how individual insect and habitat characteristics affect flight patterns. Historic dispersal patterns will be estimated indirectly by assessing relatedness of individuals using molecular genetics. This research will provide a greater understanding of how aquatic insect populations are integrated among streams, and will be useful for predicting how disturbances affect populations distributed across connected habitats.