CAREER: Modeling Complexity in Plankton Communities

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。生态系统非常复杂，因为它们包括许多物种，它们在空间和时间变化的环境中相互作用。生态学家用来处理这种复杂性的一个工具是数学建模。尽管数学是描述复杂系统的自然语言，但大多数生物学家通常很少接受数学训练。该项目的两个目标是加强对下一代生态学家的数学训练，并提高我们对浮游生物群落的理论认识，浮游生物是大多数水生食物网基础上的微观植物和动物。该项目的主要教育部分是在凯洛格生物站（KBS）成功进行的为期三周的数学生态学暑期课程的延续。该项目为来自美国国内外的本科生和研究生提供服务。PI还将邀请访问研究人员到他的实验室进行短期研究项目，并改进密歇根州立大学理论生态学的研究生课程。这一教育项目将有48名学生和12名研究员参加暑期项目，并将提高密歇根州立大学研究生的培训水平。该项目的研究部分使用数学模型来研究垂直空间结构和季节变化如何决定湖泊和海洋浮游生物群落的结构和动态。浮游生物由于其体积小、生长迅速和相对简单，是群落生态学的理想模型系统。它们在全球范围内也很重要，在耦合的生物地球化学循环中发挥着关键作用，在当地则是水质的驱动因素。对浮游生物的研究将扩展研究人员的能力。以前的理论工作包括更复杂的食物网，不同的行为和生理策略，以及空间和时间强迫的相互作用。总之，这项研究将促进我们对浮游生物群落结构和动态的理解。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).Ecosystems are incredibly complex because they include many species interacting with each other in a spatially and temporally varying environment. One tool ecologists use to cope with this complexity is mathematical modeling. Despite the fact that mathematics is the natural language to describe complex systems, most biologists typically receive little mathematical training. The two goals of this project are to enhance the mathematical training of the next generation of ecologists and to advance our theoretical understanding of communities of plankton, the microscopic plants and animals at the base of most aquatic food webs. The main educational component of the project is the continuation of a successful three-week summer program in mathematical ecology at the Kellogg Biological Station (KBS). This program serves undergraduate and graduate students from across and outside the US. The PI will also host visiting Research Fellows to his lab for short-term research projects and improve a graduate course in theoretical ecology at MSU. Together, this educational program will reach 48 students in the summer program and 12 research fellows, and will improve the training of graduate students at MSU. The research component of this project uses mathematical models to investigate how vertical spatial structure and seasonal variability determine the structure and dynamics of lake and ocean plankton communities. Due to their small size, rapid growth, and relative simplicity, plankton are an ideal model system for community ecology. They are also important globally, playing key roles in coupled biogeochemical cycles, and locally, as drivers of water quality. The work on plankton will extend the researchers? previous theoretical work to include more complex food webs, diverse behavioral and physiological strategies, and the interaction of spatial and temporal forcing. Together, this research will advance our understanding of the structure and dynamics of plankton communities.