Acquisition of Instrumentation to Enhance Faculty-Student Biogeoscience Research: Linking Aquatic and Terrestrial Ecosystems Through Element Analysis

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This award is for the acquisition of the following instrumentation for biogeoscience research: a combustion element analyzer, an automated sampler/dilutor upgrade for an existing flow injection analyzer, and a water purification system. These instruments will directly support a variety of ecosystem studies at St. Olaf and at the same time expand opportunities for research training of undergraduates in the biogeosciences and ecology in formal courses and independent research. The broad goal of the research is to link aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems through element analysis. Acquisition of the combustion element analyzer will allow for analysis of C/N ratios of sediment organic matter, helping to distinguish terrestrial vs. aquatic sources. The element analyzer in combination with the upgraded automated sampler/dilutor will allow for continued work in Minnesota and Manitoba and expansion of this work to include sediments collected in western Mongolia. A second set of projects will focus on integrating the theory on food web structure, nutrient spiraling and ecological stoichiometry in stream ecosystems of northern California. Ecologists have long been interested in the influence of communities of organisms on fluxes of C, N, and P. Ecological stoichiometry theory provides a framework for the study of nutrient fluxes through food webs and the influence of food web structure on transport and retention of multiple nutrients. This research requires the ability to measure C, N, and P concentrations of multiple materials, including water samples and tissues of algae, plants and animals. The new instruments will significantly increase capacity to collect data necessary to explore and better understand these processes. These instruments will be used extensively by undergrads at the college, which has a long history of offering research-based classes and of fostering student-faculty research collaborations through an active summer research program with over 50 students. Both PIs have collaborated extensively with undergraduates and with researchers at other institutions across the country. The research is broadly applicable to society and is relevant to important questions such as the effects of changes in grazing practices and climate change on biogeochemistry and community ecology of stream, lake, and terrestrial ecosystems.