Coupling Consumer-Resource Interactions and Nutrient Spiraling in a Stream Network

本研究的主要目的是了解河流网络位置如何影响养分循环，河流代谢和消费者-资源相互作用之间的反馈。 总的问题是，生物相互作用和生物化学组成的重要决定因素，在河流网络中的营养盐通量，以及下游生态社区的后果是什么？ 最近的理论解决消费者驱动的营养循环表明，流消费者，如昆虫，元素含量的变化，部分是由资源的可用性和部分由特定的生活史性状的出现，以应对不断变化的环境条件沿着梯度的物理变量。 消费者和资源之间的化学不平衡的变化对营养盐通量的影响是河流研究中令人兴奋的前沿。 研究人员将研究流代谢，消费者资源的相互作用和生态地球化学循环之间的反馈在几个网络的位置和藻类演替。 他们将使用这些测量来估计藻类和死亡有机物变化的整个系统的影响，以及消费者-资源相互作用对多种营养素通量的影响，方法是探索它们对营养素吸收和再生的具体影响。 该项目及其科学合作伙伴关系将为文科学生提供新的和独特的机会，探索生态系统科学，并获得大型研究小组的哲学和实验室设施。

The main objective of this study is to understand how stream network position influences feedbacks between nutrient cycles, stream metabolism, and consumer-resource interactions. The overall question is where and when are biotic interactions and biological chemical makeup important determinants of nutrient flux in river networks, and what are the consequences for downstream ecological communities? Recent theory addressing consumer-driven nutrient recycling suggests that shifts in elemental content of stream consumers, such as insects, are driven in part by resource availability and in part by the emergence of specific life history traits in response to changing environmental conditions along gradients of physical variables. The effects of resulting shifts in chemical imbalances between consumers and resources on nutrient fluxes is an exciting frontier in the study of streams. The investigators will examine feedbacks between stream metabolism, consumer-resource interactions and biogeochemical cycling at several network positions and during algal succession. They will use these measurements to estimate whole-system effects of changes in algal and dead organic matter and consumer-resource interactions on fluxes of multiple nutrients by exploring their specific effects on nutrient uptake and regeneration. This project and its science partnerships will provide liberal arts students with new and unique opportunities to explore ecosystem science and access to philosophies and lab facilities of large research groups.