RUI: Feedbacks among Benthic Fauna, Algae and Biogeochemical Cycling during Eutrophication of a Shallow Estuary

氮负荷和相关的富营养化是对我国河口生态和经济完整性的主要威胁。尽管这个问题的关键性质，我们目前缺乏必要的概念模型来预测富营养化对河口生态系统的影响。对于浅水河口来说尤其如此，在那里，复杂的底栖生物过程经常驱动整个系统的功能。底栖无脊椎动物在河口沉积物的生物地球化学循环，特别是碳和氮的循环中起着重要作用。然而，这些相同的无脊椎动物物种也倾向于随着与富营养化相关的持续缺氧的开始而消失。在这项研究中，一名来自罗彻斯特理工学院的早期职业女性科学家将测试一个基本前提，即底栖生物不仅是富营养化的主体，而且还可以对浅水河口富营养化的进展施加强有力的控制。为此，她将实地研究与实验室实验相结合，旨在研究底栖生物群落结构、沉积物生物地球化学和西法尔茅斯港（WFH）微藻和大藻生长之间的相互作用，这是科德角的一个浅河口，目前正在加速氮负荷。具体目标是：(1)确定富营养化梯度上底栖动物的分布和丰度；(2)确定动物多样性和功能群对沉积物生物地球化学过程的影响，特别是与有机碳和氮去除有关的生物地球化学过程；(3)确定动物多样性与功能群、微藻生长与大藻生长与持久性之间的反馈关系；(4)评估从微观世界到生态系统的可行性和准确性；(5)将结果与美国国家科学基金会资助的生物复杂性奖正在进行的研究成果相结合，以便将无脊椎动物的作用包括在浅水河口富营养化的整体机制理解中，并正在努力创建一个空间明确的WFH生态系统模型，该模型可用于一般浅水河口富营养化。该奖项更广泛影响的一个主要特点是，研究将在一所主要的本科院校进行，并将大大改善当地的研究环境。本科生和硕士生将有多种机会亲自参与旨在研究相关环境问题的大规模前沿研究。研究结果将直接提供给建模工作，旨在为管理人员和决策者提供关于控制河口富营养化的信息

Nitrogen loading and the associated eutrophication is a major threat to the ecological and economic integrity of our nation's estuaries. In spite of the critical nature of this problem, we currently lack the necessary conceptual models to predict the impact of eutrophication on estuarine ecosystems. This is particularly true for shallow estuaries, where complex benthic processes often drive overall system function. Benthic invertebrates play an important role in biogeochemical cycling in estuarine sediments, particularly of carbon and nitrogen. However, these same invertebrate species also tend to disappear with the onset of the persistent hypoxia associated with eutrophication. In this research, an early career, female scientist at Rochester Institute of Technology, a RUI institution, will test the fundamental premise that benthic organisms are not simply the subjects of eutrophication, but can also exert strong controls on its progression in shallow estuaries. To this end, she will combine field studies with laboratory experiments designed to examine the reciprocal interactions between benthic community structure, sediment biogeochemistry and micro- and macroalgal growth in West Falmouth Harbor (WFH), a shallow estuary on Cape Cod that is currently undergoing accelerated nitrogen loading. Specific objectives are to: (1) determine the distribution and abundance of benthic fauna across an eutrophication gradient; (2) determine the impact of faunal diversity and functional group on sediment biogeochemical processes, particularly those related to organic carbon and ntirogen removal; (3) determine the feedbacks between faunal diversity and functional group, microalgal growth and macroalgal growth and persistence, (4) evaluate the feasibility and accuracy of scaling from microcosms to ecosystems and (5) integrate results with ongoing research efforts from an NSF funded Biocomplexity award so that the role of invertebrates is included in an overall mechanistic understanding of eutrophication in shallow estuaries and in ongoing efforts to create a spatially explicit ecosystem model of WFH that can be applied to eutrophication of shallow estuaries in general. A central feature of the broader impacts of the award is that the research will take place at a primarily undergraduate institution and will greatly enhance the local research environment. Undergraduate and Masters students will be provided with multiple opportunities for hands on involvement in large-scale, cutting edge research designed to examine pertinent environmental questions. Research results will be fed directly into modeling efforts that intends to inform managers and policy makers on control of estuarine eutrophication