IRFP: Investigating the ecological impacts of the hippopotamus on watershed ecology

国际研究奖学金计划使美国科学家和工程师能够在国外进行9到24个月的研究。该计划的奖项提供了联合研究的机会，并利用国外独特或互补的设施、专业知识和实验条件。该奖项将支持道格拉斯·麦考利博士与肯尼亚内罗毕大学的John Githaiga博士和加州大学伯克利分校的Justin Brashares博士合作的为期24个月的研究奖学金。该项目创建了一个新的国际研究伙伴关系，以调查和量化常见的两栖河马如何将分水岭的生态过程与陆地生态系统中的生态过程联系起来。这些大型哺乳动物夜间在陆地区域觅食，但昼夜生活在水生系统中，从而在物理、化学和生态上连接这些不同的生态系统。了解生态系统之间的联系对于了解这些系统如何运作和有效管理它们的长期健康至关重要。在这个项目中，使用了各种研究方法组合来可视化H.两栖动物建立的陆地/流域联系，包括：帮助跟踪系统间营养物质移动模式的稳定同位素；洞察H.两栖觅食如何影响河岸植物生态的围隔实验；以及揭示H.从这些不同的研究方法得出的结论将为流域生态和生态系统连通性的一般模式提供至关重要的新见解。撒哈拉以南非洲的野生动物和人民都依赖淡水资源生存。要了解淡水生态系统如何运作，取决于认识到它们与周围陆地栖息地的生态系统有时是复杂的联系方式。该项目致力于描述由常见河马创造的极其重要的水陆联系。随着普通河马数量的迅速减少，河流过度使用的压力，以及气候变化可能影响区域水循环，我们开始了解河马是如何依赖、连接和改变陆地和水生生态系统的，这是极其重要的。这项工作的结果将有助于我们更好地管理这一脆弱物种，并保护它和撒哈拉以南非洲居民赖以生存的生态系统。该项目在IRFP研究员(D.McCauley博士)和内罗毕大学的肯尼亚水生生态学专家(J.Githaiga博士)以及加州大学伯克利分校的研究伙伴(J.Brashares博士)之间建立了一种充满活力的新的科学合作。

The International Research Fellowship Program enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct nine to twenty-four months of research abroad. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions abroad.This award will support a twenty-four-month research fellowship by Dr. Douglas McCauley to work with Dr. John Githaiga at the University of Nairobi, Kenya and Dr. Justin Brashares at the University of California Berkeley.This project creates a new international research partnership to investigate and quantify how the common hippopotamus, Hippopotamus amphibious, links ecological processes in watersheds to those in terrestrial ecosystems. These large mammals feed nocturnally in terrestrial zones, but reside diurnally in aquatic systems thus physically, chemically, and ecologically connecting these different ecosystems. Understanding linkages across ecosystems is essential to understanding how these systems function and effectively managing their long-term health. A diverse portfolio of research methods are used in this project to visualize the terrestrial/watershed linkages that are built by H. amphibious including: stable isotopes which help track patterns of inter-system nutrient movement; exclosure experiments that provide insight into how H. amphibious foraging affects riparian plant ecology; and water chemical analyses that reveal how river biogeochemistry is altered by H. amphibious. Conclusions from these different research approaches will provide vital and novel insight into the ecology of watersheds and general patterns of ecosystem connectivity.Both the wildlife and people of sub-Saharan Africa depend upon freshwater resources for life. Understanding how freshwater ecosystems function depends on recognizing the sometimes complex ways they are linked to the ecology of surrounding terrestrial habitats. This project endeavors to describe critically important aquatic-terrestrial linkages that are created by the common hippopotamus. With populations of common hippos rapidly declining, rivers stressed by overuse, and climate change threatening to affect regional water cycles it is extremely important that we begin to understand how hippos depend upon, connect, and alter terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Results from this work will help us better manage this vulnerable species as well as to protect the ecosystems upon which it and the residents of sub-Saharan Africa depend. This project has created a dynamic new scientific collaboration between the IRFP fellow (Dr. D. McCauley) and Kenyan experts in aquatic ecology at the University of Nairobi (Dr. J. Githaiga) -- as well as research partners at the University of California Berkeley (Dr. J. Brashares).