RUI: Collaborative Research: Boundary Layer Hydromechanics and the Ecology of Larval Black Flies (Diptera: Simuliidae)

这项合作研究的目的是测试边界层流动对重要的溪流昆虫--幼虫黑蝇生态的影响的预测模型。具体地说，该项目将确定阻力、平均速度、局部水流扰动和背景湍流对幼虫行为、生长和分布的直接影响，以及水流对竞争和捕食者-猎物相互作用的间接影响。黑蝇幼虫是实验室和野外研究的优秀实验对象，因为它们对水流的变化反应迅速，具有很高的摄食率和生长率，并出现在当地溪流中的密集种群中。视频设备将记录幼虫的取食和间隔行为，水下测力板将测量幼虫的阻力，热膜风速测量将在空间和时间尺度上表征与这些小河流生物相关的流体环境。这一结果将代表着边界层流体力学和河流生态学的重大进步。实地研究很重要，因为它们将是第一次量化小尺度湍流对海底生物的影响。结果将允许评估适应性范例和评估阻力的非灾难性代价。这项研究的信息将提供重要的见解，可应用于其他底栖生物的物理生态学。

The objective of this collaborative research is to test predictive models regarding the effects of boundary layer flow on the ecology of larval black flies, important stream insects. Specifically, the project will determine the direct effects of drag, average velocity, local flow disturbances and background turbulence on larval behavior, growth and distribution, as well as the indirect effects of flow on competition and predator-prey interactions. Black fly larvae are excellent experimental subjects for laboratory and field studies, because they rapidly respond to changes in flow, have high feeding and growth rates, and occur in dense populations in local streams. Video equipment will record larval feeding and spacing behavior, submerged force plates will measure larval drag, and hot film anemometry will characterize the fluid environment on spatial and temporal scales that are relevant to these small stream organisms. The results will represent a significant advance in boundary layer hydromechanics and stream ecology. The field studies are important because they will be the first to quantify the influence of small-scale turbulence on benthic organisms. Results will allow evaluation of adaptive paradigms and assessment of the non-catastrophic costs of drag. The information from this study will provide important insights that may be applied to physical ecology of other benthic organisms.