U.S.-Mexico Dissertation Enhancement: Understanding Land-Sea Biogeochemistry at Multiple Scales - Interactions at the Interface of Mexico's Yaqui Valley and the Gulf of California

0438396Matson, Pamela A.本论文增强提案将支持Michael Beman先生在斯坦福大学Pamela A. Matson博士的指导下进行论文研究，并与蒙特雷高等研究学院（ITESM）自然资源保护中心（CECARENA）的esther Cruz博士合作。拟议的研究将研究来自墨西哥雅基河谷的农业径流对加利福尼亚湾沿岸系统的影响。农业径流可以对墨西哥湾开阔水域的浮游植物生物量产生大规模影响。主要基于卫星遥感数据，有人认为，沿海的营养物上涌，加上农业来源的营养物，导致大规模的浮游植物大量繁殖和羽流，其规模可达近50公里。这些结果进一步表明，雅桂河谷的河口是重要的、可能是相当独特的生物地球化学转化的场所。该研究的重点是在较小的空间尺度上，旨在了解这些河口之一巴伊亚德尔托巴里河口的微生物群落结构和功能。这项工作将采用遗传技术、沉积物操作和现场生物地球化学测量相结合的方法来了解Tobari的氮转化和损失，以及这些过程如何与海湾地区的工作过程联系起来。雅基谷-加利福尼亚湾作为一个高度联系的陆-海系统，正在经历着快速的变化，为理解全球海岸变化的加速提供了一个模式系统。

0438396Matson, Pamela A. This dissertation enhancement proposal, will support the dissertation research of Mr. Michael Beman under the supervision of Dr. Pamela A. Matson of Stanford University, and in collaboration with Dr.Esther Cruz at the Centro de Conservacion para el Aprovechamiento de los Recursos Naturales (CECARENA) of the Instituto Tecnologico de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM). The proposed research will study the effects of agricultural runoff from the Yaqui Valley of Mexico on the coastal systems in the Gulf of California. Agricultural runoff can have large-scale influences on phytoplankton biomass in the open waters of the Gulf. Based primarily on data from satellite remote sensing, it is argued that coastal upwelling of nutrients, augmented by agriculturally-derived nutrients, results in large phytoplankton blooms and plumes that can reach almost 50 km in scale. These results further imply that the estuaries of the Yaqui Valley are sites of important and possibly quite unique biogeochemical transformations. The proposed research is focused on a smaller spatial scale, and aimed at understanding microbial community structure and function in one of these estuaries, Bahia del Tobari. The work will employ a combination of genetic techniques, sediment manipulations, and in situ biogeochemical measurements to understand nitrogen transformations and losses from Tobari, and how these processes are linked with processes at work in the Gulf. As a highly connected land-sea system undergoing rapid change, the Yaqui Valley-Gulf of California represents a model system for understanding the acceleration of coastal change worldwide.