RUI: Spatial and Temporal Subsidies in Seasonal Environments

水生生境和陆地生境往往对彼此产生重大的生态影响。景观生态学的这一重要方面大多是在空间中进行研究，在永久水生或陆生的相邻栖息地之间。该项目将调查水生和陆生栖息地之间的相互作用，在一种类型的栖息地，季节性周期之间的水生和陆生状态。利用残留的曾经广泛的系统春季池在中央谷的加州，实验将测试如何在冬季的水生期的洪水和营养物质的积累的长度影响在陆地期的植物在夏季的多样性，以及如何茅草这些植物离开影响水生植物和无脊椎动物在冬季的多样性。该项目的更广泛影响包括本科生的培训，K-12教育的推广，机构之间的合作，以及对生物多样性和特有物种保护的应用。该项目是基于一个主要的本科院校，服务于代表性不足的群体，它将提供研究经验，为个别学生和材料的本科课程。加州的春季水池是高度优先保护的，该项目将向管理这些自然栖息地的州和联邦机构传播结果。

Aquatic and terrestrial habitats often have major ecological effects on each other. This important aspect of landscape ecology has mostly been investigated in space, between adjacent habitats that are permanently aquatic or terrestrial. This project will investigate the interaction between aquatic and terrestrial habitats in time, in a type of habitat that cycles seasonally between an aquatic and a terrestrial state. Using remnants of the once extensive system of vernal pools in the Central Valley of California, experiments will test how length of flooding and accumulation of nutrients during the aquatic period in winter influence the diversity of plants found in the terrestrial period in summer, and how the thatch these plants leave affects the diversity of aquatic plants and invertebrates in winter. The broader impacts of this project include training of undergraduate students, outreach to K-12 education, collaboration between institutions, and applications to conservation of biodiversity and endemic species. The project is based at a primarily undergraduate institution that serves underrepresented groups and it will provide research experiences for individual students and material for undergraduate courses. Vernal pools in California are of high conservation priority, and the project will disseminate results to the state and Federal agencies that manage these natural habitats.