Determinants and consequences of spatial pattern in zoobenthos investigations and applications

底栖水生无脊椎动物(底栖动物)是水生食物网的一个组成部分，将能量和持久性化学物质从碎屑汇转移到其他营养层。我的研究结合了实验室观察/操纵、推论野外实验和建模，以描述和理解控制选定底栖生物种群行为和微观分布的机制和因素。在研究发育、行为、直接相互作用和扩散方面，我开发了新的方法来监测和预测环境胁迫对关键物种个体(生物标记物)和种群的影响。这些方法补充了以社区为基础的环境监测方法。我将继续采用这种方法来解决六角斑潜蝇(EphEmeroptera)的研究环境限制、相互作用和扩散问题。在中营养系统的细微沉积物中，六齿藻是优势底栖生物。以前灭绝的种群正在重新殖民五大湖。我将使用分布、扩散、密度依赖、氧气限制和大小-繁殖力关系的数据来预测和确认伊利群岛西部的环境限制和生活史特征。对湖底温度和氧气浓度的现场记录仪的测量将与地表水温的遥感测量相结合，以预测整个盆地的底栖生物条件，这将被用来估计预期的生长和产量。这些值将与根据实际海底样本产生的种群估计值进行比较。六齿藻可调动沉积物、营养物质和相关污染物，影响滤食性生物(淡水贻贝、浮游动物)，并改变海底微地形。我将通过实验室和实地研究来阐述蚂蚁生物扰动对湖泊物理和生物过程的重要性。这些结果将有助于理解这种关键物种在西伊利湖和类似中营养系统的营养动态变化中所起的作用。

Bottom-dwelling aquatic invertebrates (benthos) are an integral component of aquatic food webs, transferring energy and persistent chemicals from the detrital sink to other trophic levels. My research combines laboratory observation/manipulation, inferential field experiments and modeling to describe and understand mechanisms and factors controlling behaviour and microdistribution in selected benthic populations. In studying development, behaviour, direct interactions, and dispersal I have developed novel methods to monitor and predict effects of environmental stress in individuals (biomarkers) and populations of keystone species. These methods complement community-based methods of environmental monitoring. I will continue this approach to address research environmental constraints, interactions, and dispersion of Hexagenia burrowing mayflies (Ephemeroptera). Hexagenia are dominant benthos in fine sediments of mesotrophic systems. Previously eradicated populations are recolonizing the Great Lakes. I will use data on distribution, dispersal, density-dependence, oxygen limitation, and size-fecundity relationships to predict and confirm environmental limits and life history traits in western L. Erie. Measurements from in situ recorders of lake-bottom temperature and oxygen concentrations will be combined with remote-sensed measurements of surface water temperatures to predict basin-wide benthic conditions, which will be used to estimate expected growth and production. These values will be compared to population estimates generated from actual benthic samples. Hexagenia mobilize sediment, nutrients, and associated contaminants, influencing filter-feeding organisms (dreissenid mussels, zooplankton), and alter bottom microtopography. I will address the importance of mayfly bioturbation to the lake's physical and biological processes through laboratory and field studies. The results will help understand the role of this keystone species plays in the changing nutrient dynamics of western Lake Erie and similar mesotrophic systems.