Importance of Flow and Flux Micro-Environment to Soft-Bottom Benthos

从生物体和流动的各种研究中出现的范式是 这种反应是广泛的，并且是形态特异性的。 的 本项目的总体目标是确定流的重要性 沉积物通量微环境对存款和悬浮的影响 Feeder的回答该项目的主要假设是： A.悬浮饲喂是对食物颗粒通量的响应，而不是流动 速度和悬浮物浓度单独;和，B.存款喂养是一种 对高食品价值的细颗粒沉积的反应。 这些 将通过观察摄食行为来检验假设， 几种沙滩大型底栖动物在因子中的比例 流体流动、颗粒通量和床层特性的操纵。 在第一年，整体流量和沉积物通量实验将 进一步阐明水流和泥沙的作用 四种目标物种的平均种群行为通量 多毛类蠕虫在第二年，关键的测试， 假设将通过操纵流动、通量 和颗粒食物价值，如操作上由不稳定蛋白质定义的 测量.该项目的成果将具有重要意义 对底栖摄食生物学建模的影响， 解释形式和功能作为适应流动， 实验室流动微观世界实验的设计。

The paradigm emerging from various studies of organisms and flow is that the responses are widespread and morphology-specific. The overall goal of this project is to determine the importance of flow and sediment flux microenvironments to deposit and suspension feeder's responses. The major hypotheses of the project are that: A. suspension feeding is a response to food particle flux, not flow speed and seston concentration alone; and, B. deposit feeding is a response to deposition of fine particles of high food value. These hypotheses will be tested by observing the feeding behavior and rate of several species of sandflat macrofauna in a factorial manipulation of fluid flow, particle flux and bed characteristics. In the first year, the bulk flow and sediment flux experiments will be conducted to further delineate the roles of flow and sediment flux in mean population behavior of four target species of polychaete worms. In the second year, critical tests of the hypotheses will be undertaken through manipulation of flow, flux and particle food value as operationally defined by labile protein measurements. The results of this project will have important implications for the modeling of benthic feeding biology, for explanations of form and function as adaptations to flow, and for the design of laboratory flow microcosm experiments.