Dissertation Research: Dispersal within and among Stream Corridors: Implications for the Distribution and Population Structure of Stoneflies in the White Mountain National Forest

尽管溪流是分布在陆地景观中的水生栖息地网络，但人们对这些网络的模式如何影响生活在其中的有机体的分布知之甚少。这项研究的目的是研究石蝇--一种幼虫在溪流中发育，成年后生活在森林中的昆虫--如何在溪流中分散，以及溪流的模式如何影响新汉普郡怀特山国家森林中石蝇的分布。使用稳定的同位素，成年石蝇将在森林中被跟踪，以测量飞行距离。将开发一个模型来预测个体昆虫和栖息地特征如何影响飞行模式。历史上的扩散模式将通过使用分子遗传学评估个体的亲缘关系来间接估计。这项研究将提供对水生昆虫种群如何在溪流中整合的更好的理解，并将有助于预测干扰如何影响分布在相互连接的生境的种群。

Although streams are networks of aquatic habitat that are distributed across a terrestrial landscapes; little is known about how the patterns of these networks affect the distributions of organisms that live within them. The objective of this research is to examine how stoneflies, a group of insects that develop as larvae in streams and live in the forest as adults, disperse among streams, and how the patterns of streams affect the distribution of stoneflies in the White Mountain National Forest of New Hampshire. Using stable isotopes, adult stoneflies will be tracked in the forest to measure flight distances. A model will be developed to predict how individual insect and habitat characteristics affect flight patterns. Historic dispersal patterns will be estimated indirectly by assessing relatedness of individuals using molecular genetics. This research will provide a greater understanding of how aquatic insect populations are integrated among streams, and will be useful for predicting how disturbances affect populations distributed across connected habitats.