BIOCOMPLEXITY - INCUBATION ACTIVITY: Quantitative description of the response of a complex system to disturbance: subsurface microbial communities and chemical contaminants

化学污染物释放到地下水中扰乱了居住的微生物群落，并触发了一个复杂的反馈回路网络，影响地下水地球化学、土壤结构和系统的微生物多样性。人为干预以工程修复的形式来恢复场地，引入了另一种干扰，微生物群落和系统的非生物成分必须做出反应。通常与微生物群落相关的一个新兴特性是体内平衡。本研究的目的是测试在化学污染物释放压力下地下微生物群落的稳态假设以及可能随之而来的补救措施。要实现这一目标，需要在微生物学、水文学、生物地球化学、工程学、生态建模、自适应控制理论和数据可视化等方面具有专业知识的科学家和工程师团队之间进行有效的合作。孵化器活动的目的是促进理解物理系统的实验人员和用定量工具描述和预测系统特性的数学建模人员之间的交流。定义了一个相对简单的实验室实验[两种细菌在固定膜流动柱内，其中有活性矿物表面（铁），作为缺氧时的替代选择受体]，以探索三种建模方法：(1)每种细菌的非线性偏微分方程系统，(2)代谢建模，(3)自适应控制理论。这个原型系统将用于将跨学科的讨论集中在一个具体的问题上，并促进富有成效的互动。其他建模方法将通过头脑风暴会议、计算机系统和后续视频会议来探索。研讨会的书面摘要将发表在技术新闻期刊上，以使整个科学界受益。

Ford 0083839The release of chemical pollutants into groundwater disturbs the resident microbial community and triggers a complex network of feedback loops affecting the groundwater geochemistry, soil structure and microbial diversity of the system. Human intervention in the form of engineered remediation to restore the site introduces yet another disturbance to which the microbial community and abiotic components of the systems must respond. An emergent property typically associated with microbial communities is homeostasis. The objective of this research is to test the homeostasis hypothesis for a subsurface microbial community under the stress of a chemical pollutant release and the remedial actions which may follow.To accomplish this objective will require effective collaboration among a team of scientists and engineers with expertise in microbiology, hydrology, biogeochemistry, engineering, ecological modeling, adaptive control theory, and data visualization. Incubator activities are designed to foster communications between experimentalists with an understanding of the physical system and mathematical modelers with quantitative tools for characterizing and predicting properties of the system. A relatively simple laboratory experiment [two bacterial species within a fixed-film flow-through column with a reactive mineral surface (iron) that serves as an alternative election acceptor in the absence of oxygen] is defined in order to explore three modeling approaches: (1) system of nonlinear partial differential equations for each species, (2) metabolic modeling, and (3) adaptive control theory. This prototype system will be used to focus the interdisciplinary discussions on a concrete problem and facilitate productive interactions. Additional modeling approaches will be explored through a brainstorming session, computer systems and a follow-up videoconference. A written summary from the workshop will be published in technical news journals to benefit the scientific community at large.