A mechanistic framework for bottom-up biodiversity effects: riparian forest invasion impacts on headwater stream microbial and macroinvertebrate communities

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Freshwater streams are a critical natural resource and are ecologically linked to the surrounding landscape. Due to their nature, streamside forests are highly vulnerable to invasion by plant species which aggressively displace other species. This project will test the hypothesis that the ecology of aquatic microbial and macroinvertebrate stream communities are regulated by bottom-up processes altered through terrestrial plant invasion along headwater streams. The investigators will use the invasion of headwater stream forests by the exotic shrub Amur honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii) to assess alteration of materials that enter the stream, and how those alterations change the in-stream habitat. The project will further assess how invasion influences stream microbial biofilm (bacteria and fungi) and macroinvertebrate communities. Field assessments along a gradient of L. maackii density will be complemented by field manipulation experiments to test mechanisms. Overall, the project tests the broad hypothesis that the loss of biodiversity in streamside forests due to invasion is mirrored by a loss of biodiversity in the aquatic community. The foundation for the proposed work includes an extensive suite of published studies and preliminary data. This project will directly benefit traditionally underrepresented groups in science by creating paid internship opportunities for urban students from a charter school that serves poverty-stricken parts of urban Dayton. This project will directly inform management of aquatic habitats and riparian zones throughout the region by involving managers from a variety of park systems. The findings could influence management on thousands of miles of headwater streams in North America. This funding will facilitate scientific training of undergraduate students through paid internships, support a PhD student, and provide an excellent training platform for a postdoctoral researcher.