DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Do interactions between ultraviolet radiation and dissolved organic carbon modulate disease in aquatic systems?

论文研究：紫外线辐射和溶解有机碳之间的相互作用是否会调节水生系统中的疾病？

• 批准号: 1601248
• 负责人: Meghan Duffy
• 金额: $ 2.02万
• 依托单位: Regents of the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-06-01 至 2019-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1601248&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: DISSERTATION; RESEARCH; Do; interactions; between

Environmental change alters ecosystems by changing the physical characteristics of a habitat, affecting which organisms can thrive in a given environment. In this graduate student project, research will address the impacts of darkening water in Midwestern lakes on the prevalence of disease in a common miniature crustacean. Lake darkening occurs due to increases in input of plant debris washing into lakes as a result of increased precipitation and storm severity. Lake nutrient levels and the penetration of various wavelengths of light into the water are both affected by the darkening process. The common miniature crustacean known as Daphnia can be parasitized by certain fungi and/or bacteria. This project will examine the mechanisms by which lake darkening can affect these parasitic interactions. It will provide insight into how altering environmental factors can influence disease in lake communities, and will also involve local students in research and fieldwork in south-central Indiana.In order to quantify how lake darkening affects disease dynamics in lakes, for this Doctoral Dissertation Improvement grant, the graduate student will manipulate the darkness of lake enclosures through two treatments: shading and addition of dissolved organic matter. The student will then seed enclosures with local community members (Daphnia hosts, other plankton, and invertebrate predators) and parasite-infected hosts. Abiotic habitat variables (e.g. temperature, pH, oxygen levels), community structure, and disease levels will be measured throughout the course of the ten-week experiment and compared to control enclosures without shading or added dissolved organic matter. Since lake darkening is expected to affect all lake community members either directly or indirectly, it is important to observe and quantify effects of these environmental factors on hosts, disease agents, predators, producers, decomposers, and physical habitat structure. By measuring differences in communities in the different treatments, we will be able to tease apart the mechanisms by which lake darkening affects disease.

环境变化通过改变栖息地的物理特征来改变生态系统，影响生物在特定环境中茁壮成长。在这个研究生项目中，研究将解决中西部湖泊变暗对一种常见微型甲壳类动物疾病流行的影响。湖泊变黑的发生是由于降水和风暴强度增加导致植物碎片流入湖泊的增加。湖泊的营养水平和不同波长的光对水中的穿透都受到变暗过程的影响。常见的小型甲壳类动物水蚤可以被某些真菌和/或细菌寄生。该项目将研究湖泊变暗影响这些寄生相互作用的机制。它将深入了解改变环境因素如何影响湖泊社区的疾病，并将让当地学生参与印第安纳州中南部的研究和实地考察。为了量化湖泊变暗如何影响湖泊的疾病动态，在这个博士论文改进拨款中，研究生将通过两种处理来操纵湖泊围栏的黑暗：遮阳和添加溶解的有机物。然后，学生将与当地社区成员（水蚤宿主、其他浮游生物和无脊椎捕食者）和寄生虫感染的宿主一起播种围栏。在为期十周的实验过程中，将测量非生物栖息地变量（如温度、pH值、氧气水平）、群落结构和疾病水平，并与没有遮光或添加溶解有机物的控制围栏进行比较。由于湖泊变暗预计会直接或间接地影响所有湖泊群落成员，因此观察和量化这些环境因素对宿主、病原体、捕食者、生产者、分解者和物理栖息地结构的影响是很重要的。通过测量不同处理方式下群落的差异，我们将能够梳理出湖泊变暗影响疾病的机制。