REU: Plant-Herbivore Interactions in Stream Ecosystems

食草是水生动物和 陆地生态系统 虽然食草动物通常被视为 简单的植物消费，众多的生态系统功能运作， 决定了植物与食草动物相互作用的性质和结果。 这项研究的基本前提是， 河流生态系统中的食草过程是由 生产能力的植物组合和消费 食草动物的需求。 在许多溪流中，底栖藻类是 主要的植物，而大型无脊椎动物，如昆虫和 蜗牛是主要的食草动物。 因为食草动物通常 消耗大部分（50%）的植物生物质， 流，对有限资源的竞争潜力是 比许多其他生态系统中的河流更大。 的组合 实验室和现场实验将评估（1）影响 生态系统生产力对植物-食草动物相互作用的影响， (2)河流间竞争相互作用强度 食草动物，（3）之间的相互作用的重要性 藻类生产力和消费动态对河流生态系统的影响 结构和功能。 这些研究的结果将 被纳入数学模型的食草动物子系统 河流生态系统。 子系统修改的影响 将根据整个生态系统的行为进行评估 模型 完成拟议的研究和建模将 可以对食草动物和水生动物进行重要的比较 和陆地生态系统。 研究结果将使 河流生态学家解释草食动物相对于其他 重要的生态系统过程，而不是孤立的 活动。//

Herbivory is a fundamental process in both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Although herbivory is often viewed as simple plant consumption, numerous ecosystem features operate to determine the nature and outcome of plant-herbivore interactions. The basic premise of this research is that dynamics of the herbivory process in stream ecosystems are determined by the productive capacity of plant assemblages and the consumptive demand of herbivores. In many streams, benthic algae are the predominant plants, while macroinvertebrates such as insects and snails are the dominant herbivores. Because herbivores typically consume a large proportion (50%) of the plant biomass in streams, the potential for competition for limited resources is greater streams than in many other ecosystems. A combination of laboratory and field experiments will evaluate (1) the influence of ecosystem productive capacity on plant-herbivore interactions, (2) the intensity of competitive interactions among stream herbivores, and (3) the importance of the interaction between algal productivity and consumer dynamics to stream ecosystem structure and function. Results of these studies will be incorporated into the herbivory subsystem of a mathematical model of stream ecosystems. Implications of subsystem modifications will be assessed in terms of behavior of the total ecosystem model. Completion of the proposed research and modeling will allow crucial comparisons of herbivory to be made between aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Results of the research will enable stream ecologists to interpret herbivory relative to other important ecosystem processes, rather than as an isolated activity.//