Collaborative Research: Terrestrial Carbon Subsidies of Aquatic Food Webs

湖泊中的大部分有机碳来源于周围的陆地生态系统。 湖泊中陆地碳的退化意味着湖泊食物网可能受到外部来源的支持，而不仅仅是内部初级生产。 先前在小湖泊中使用无机碳-13添加剂的实验显示，水生食物网的陆地支持很重要。 该项目将直接探讨陆地对湖泊食物网的支持的相对重要性，这些湖泊的规模是以前研究的湖泊的4-10倍。 碳-13将被添加到两个大湖中，并使用研究人员开发的几个模型进行分析。 结果将确定陆地补贴的重要性，在这些较大的湖泊，在北方高地的威斯康星州和密歇根州的大小，并代表了一个大类的温带湖泊全球的前四分之一。 这项研究将有助于了解湖泊的景观背景下，评估湖泊大小的差异是否影响食物网和碳循环。 该项目的更广泛影响包括促进公众对湖泊生态系统的了解以及对研究生和本科生的研究培训。 调查结果将纳入正在进行的关于北方高地湖区未来的外联工作。

Much of the organic carbon in lakes originates from surrounding terrestrial ecosystems. Degradation of this terrestrial carbon in lakes implies that lake food webs are potentially supported by external sources, rather than solely by internal primary production. Prior experiments in small lakes using inorganic carbon-13 additions revealed significant terrestrial support of aquatic food webs. This project will directly address the relative importance of terrestrial support of food webs in lakes 4-10 times the size of lakes studied previously. Carbon-13 will be added to two large lakes and analyzed with several models developed by the investigators. Results will determine the importance terrestrial subsidies in these larger lakes that are in the top quartile for size in the Northern Highlands of Wisconsin and Michigan and representative of a large class of temperate lakes globally. This research will contribute to understanding lakes in a landscape context by assessing whether differences in lake size influence food webs and carbon cycling. Broader impacts of this project include promoting public understanding of lake ecosystems as well as research training for graduate and undergraduate students. Results will be incorporated into an ongoing outreach effort on the future of the Northern Highland Lake District.