Dimensions US-China: Collaborative Research: Phylogenetic, Functional, and Genetic Diversity and Ecosystem Functions in a Fragmented Landscape

这个项目？与中国国家科学基金(NSFC)联合资助？将研究生物多样性的生态/进化措施与生态系统功能之间的关系。特别是，研究人员将调查演替驱动生物多样性变化，进而导致生态系统功能改变的假说。研究人员将研究中国千岛湖岛屿上植物和昆虫群落的生物多样性。这个人工湖建于1959年，是大坝建设的结果。随着水位的上升，以前连续的陆地栖息地被分割成岛屿。该项目将调查不同演替阶段的岛屿上生物多样性的三个方面，它们之间的相互关系，以及与生态系统功能的联系。对植物群落和昆虫群落的实地调查将与生物多样性的实验操作以及基于实验室的植物和昆虫样本的功能和遗传分析相结合，以检查这种特殊生境中的生物多样性和生态系统功能模式。拟议的研究将使这个国际团队通过利用千岛湖高度重复的自然孤岛环境，更好地了解生物多样性、生态系统功能和栖息地碎片化的多个维度之间的联系。该项目将成为中美科学家和学生合作的长期平台。这项研究的结果将通过同行评议期刊、会议报告和教学/培训活动上的出版物传播。该项目将通过实践研究和有组织的研讨会为青年科学家和学生提供高质量的研究机会。它将通过研究人员所在机构现有的学生推广计划，强调代表不足的群体参与科学。研究人员将与千岛湖群岛的当地管理人员和旅游团合作，在面临栖息地碎片化的情况下促进关于生物多样性的公共教育。

This project ? jointly funded with the Chinese National Science Foundation (NSFC) ? will study the relationships among ecological/evolutionary measures of biodiversity, and ecosystem functions. In particular, the investigators will investigate the hypothesis that succession drives changes in biodiversity, which in turn causes altered ecosystem function. Researchers will study the biodiversity of plant and insect assemblages on islands in the Thousand-Island Lake in China. This man-made lake was created in 1959 as the result of dam construction. As the water level rose, previously continuous terrestrial habitats were fragmented into islands. The project will investigate three dimensions of biodiversity on islands of different successional stages, their interrelationships, and linkages to ecosystem function. Field surveys of plant and insect communities will be combined with experimental manipulations of biodiversity, and laboratory-based functional and genetic analyses of plant and insect samples to examine biodiversity and ecosystem function patterns in this unusual habitat.The proposed research will allow this international team to gain a better understanding of linkages among the multiple dimensions of biodiversity, ecosystem function, and habitat fragmentation, by taking advantage of the highly replicated, natural, insular environment of Thousand-Island Lake. This project will serve as a long-term platform for collaborations between US and Chinese scientists and students. Results of this study will be disseminated through publications in peer-reviewed journals, conference presentations, and teaching/training activities. The project will provide high-quality research opportunities for young scientists and students through hands-on research and via organized workshops. It will emphasize the involvement of underrepresented groups in science via existing student outreach programs at the researchers' home institutions. The researchers will work with local managers and tourist groups on the Thousand-Island Lake islands to promote public education about biodiversity in the face of habitat fragmentation.