CREST-Postdoctoral Research Fellowship: Cross-Ecosystem Interactions and the Transport of Aquatic Contaminants to Terrestrial Food Webs within Mangrove Forests

卓越的科学和技术研究中心博士后研究奖学金（CREST- prf）支持开始CREST中心的研究人员，并为他们提供培训和研究经验，这将拓宽视野，促进跨学科的互动，并使他们在科学界的领导地位。CREST-PRF研究项目名为“红树林内跨生态系统相互作用和水生污染物向陆地食物网的运输”，通过研究城市化和自然原因导致的红树林污染，与佛罗里达国际大学crest -水生化学与环境中心的目标保持一致。由于红树林位于淡水、海洋和陆地生态系统的交汇处，是各种水生和陆地生物的重要栖息地，同时也提供重要的生态服务。这项研究的具体目的是描述红树林食物网如何受到城市化的影响，以及测量通过水生昆虫从水生生态系统转移到陆地生态系统的污染金属的浓度。这项研究得到了佛罗里达南部和波多黎各几个研究机构和大学的合作支持。培训本科生和研究生进行和传播研究是项目工作的一部分，与K-12学生、教师和一般公众接触也是项目工作的一部分，以提高他们对与其社区有关的重要环境问题的理解。水生和陆地食物网之间以空间补贴（即猎物、碎屑或营养物质）形式的能量转移对于维持红树林生态系统内的生物多样性和生态功能至关重要。自然和人为干扰通过改变水生生态系统的物理化学参数，对生态系统间的相互作用产生重要影响。本研究采用实地研究和化学分析来描述城市化如何影响生态系统间的相互作用，以及在湿季和旱季红树林中水生污染物向陆地食物网的运输。实地工作包括对佛罗里达州南部和波多黎各的城市和非城市红树林进行采样，以确定水生昆虫和圆编织蜘蛛组合组成的重大变化，并利用稳定同位素和痕量金属分析量化水生昆虫的饮食贡献及其与圆编织蜘蛛中金属浓度的相关性。此外，生物测定法还用于测量盐度和金属含量增加对非叮蚊（双翅目：手蛾科）生长和羽化率的影响。作为研究重点的水生昆虫和蜘蛛类群具有世界范围的分布，因此研究结果可以作为全球其他红树林生态系统研究的比较模型。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The Centers of Research Excellence in Science and Technology-Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (CREST-PRF) supports beginning CREST Center investigators and provides them with training and research experiences that will broaden perspectives, facilitate interdisciplinary interactions and establish them in positions of leadership within the scientific community. The CREST-PRF research project titled "Cross-Ecosystem Interactions and the Transport of Aquatic Contaminants to Terrestrial Food Webs within Mangrove Forests" is aligned with the goals of the CREST-Center for Aquatic Chemistry and Environment at Florida International University through its study of contamination of mangrove forests due to urbanization and natural causes. Because of their unique location at the intersection of freshwater, marine, and terrestrial ecosystems, mangroves serve as critical habitat for a wide range of aquatic and terrestrial organisms, while also providing important ecological services. The specific aims of this research is to characterize how mangrove food webs are affected by urbanization, as well as to measure the concentrations of contaminant metals moving from aquatic to terrestrial ecosystems via aquatic insects. The study is supported through the collaborative efforts of several research institutions and universities from southern Florida and Puerto Rico. Training of undergraduates and graduate students in conducting and disseminating research is part of the project's work, as is outreach to K-12 students and teachers and the general public, to enhance their understanding of important environmental issues that are relevant to their communities.The transfer of energy in the form of spatial subsidies (i.e. prey, detritus or nutrients) between aquatic and terrestrial food webs is critical for maintaining biodiversity and ecological functions within mangrove ecosystems. Natural and anthropogenic disturbances have significant effects on cross-ecosystem interactions by altering physical-chemical parameters in aquatic ecosystems. This study employs field studies and chemical analyses to delineate how urbanization affects cross-ecosystem interactions and the transport of aquatic contaminants to terrestrial food webs within mangrove forests during wet and dry seasons. Field work includes sampling urban and non-urban mangrove sites in southern Florida and Puerto Rico to determine significant changes in the composition of aquatic insect and orb-weaving spider assemblages, as well as to quantify the dietary contribution of aquatic insects and their correlation with concentrations of metals in orb-weaving spiders using stable isotope and trace metal analyses. In addition, bioassays are used to measure the effects on growth and emergence rates of non-biting midges (Diptera: Chironomidae) in response to increasing levels of salinity and metals. The taxa of aquatic insects and spiders that are the focus of the research have worldwide distributions and therefore findings can be used as a comparative model for other mangrove ecosystem studies around the globe.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.