Network-based biomonitoring of freshwater ecosystems in relation to anthropogenic impacts

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Aquatic ecosystems face pressures from human activities operating at a range of spatial and temporal scales, manifested through multiple stressor scenarios. My research focuses on improving understanding of the consequences of these pressures through development of diagnostics, including testing of stressor-specific indicators based on underlying mechanisms driving species turnover from site-to-regional scales. I will study multiple stressor impacts at local to regional scales on the biodiversity of freshwater macroinvertebrates. This will be achieved by aligning existing knowledge of the sensitivity of key macroinvertebrate taxa to specific stressors (e.g. pesticides, drought) with a mechanistic understanding of how character states - 'traits' - can result in species loss through environmental filtering. I am seeking support for three studentships within the project funding period. In Year 1, MSc student-1 will study food web network properties along a river floodplain environmental gradient subject to human access disturbance. This will be done using a combination of DNA metabarcoding and annotation with prior knowledge derived from literature and on-line database sources. Also in Year 1, PhD Student-1 will explore the relationship between food web structure generated from prior knowledge (i.e. food web links libraries, traits-based analysis and literature review) and existing measures of ecological quality, in combination with a large database of linked environmental and biomonitoring observational data from a large inland wetland complex of international importance (the Peace-Athabasca Delta in Wood Buffalo National Park, Alberta), including a data series (2010-2018) of molecular taxonomic data. The aim of the study will be to explore food web structural variability (e.g. trophic height, linkage density) can be used more effectively as a management tool within anthropogenically-influenced landscapes. In Year 3, in collaboration with others, MSc Student 2 will extend this data-mining approach to focus on the extraction of specific quantitative information on organism body size from a large corpus of online literature. Their project will focus on Canadian taxa or closely-related proxy taxa from other regions (Europe, North America). Through its focus at ecosystem scale, dealing with environmental observation and monitoring at large spatial scales, the research described above is ambitious at an international level. This work is not only achievable, but will provide a new benchmark for monitoring freshwater ecosystems in the Anthropocene. In addition to the practical benefits of improved ecosystem management, the research offers a unique training opportunity for HQP, particularly given the linked funding available from other sources over the lifetime of the grant. Finally, the research results obtained will provide excellent opportunity to test key elements of biodiversity and food web theory with potential global application.