Zoogeography and Ecology of Groundwater Invertebrates

这项研究将验证一种独特的动物群的想法， 古老的，特有的，专门的无脊椎动物生活在 华北东部中生代未受冰川作用的地下水 美国参考 这种动物群的存在是基于 洞穴和表层沃茨动物群的分布 北美洲东部 这一想法将通过分析 无脊椎动物群落的浅层地下水（潜流 在加拿大边境和墨西哥湾之间的15-20个地点， 墨西哥 这项研究的结果将有助于回答 关于几个重要专题的问题，包括：（一） 地下水动物区系的动物地理和演变;（二）地下水动物区系的 地下水群落生态结构与功能 不同的进化年龄;（iii）epigean之间的相互作用 地下水社区的通才和地下水专家; (iv)预测地下水群落对全球气候变化的响应 气候变化;（5）预测地下水的响应 （六）对灾害性干扰的认识; 地下水演化生理生态学 无脊椎动物 该项目将有助于基本生态 地下水社区，一个主要利益的领域， 生态学家，并将添加到知识库有用的应用 科学

This research will test the idea that a distinctive fauna of ancient, endemic, specialized invertebrates lives in the groundwaters of unglaciated Mesozoic terrain in eastern North America. The existence of such a fauna is to be expected based on the distribution of the faunas of caves and surface waters in eastern North America. This idea will be tested by analyzing the invertebrate communities of shallow groundwater (the hyporheic zone) at 15-20 sites between the Canadian border and the Gulf of Mexico. The results of this research will help to answer questions about several important topics, including: (i) the zoogeography and evolution of the groundwater fauna; (ii) the ecological structure and function of groundwater communities of different evolutionary ages; (iii) interactions between epigean generalists and hypogean specialists in groundwater communities; (iv) predicting the response of groundwater communities to global climate change; (v) predicting the response of groundwater communities to catastrophic disturbance; and (vi) elucidating the evolutionary and physiological ecology of groundwater invertebrates. The project will contribute to the basic ecology of groundwater communities, an area of major interest among ecologists, and will add to the knowledge base useful for applied science.