Dissertation Research: The Effects of Mixing and Storm Events on Lake Phytoplankton Production

拟议的研究将确定风暴如何影响湖泊藻类的初级生产（PP）。藻类需要营养物和光来维持生长，而风暴事件会影响藻类可利用的营养物和光的数量。暴雨将营养物质冲入湖泊，并在湖中重新分配营养物质。风暴还会重新分配营养物质，使藻类暴露在不同程度的光线下。这项研究的初步结果表明，在我们目前对水产产量的估计中，可能没有考虑到这些物理强迫事件对PP的显著增强。具体地说，这项研究将通过结合观测研究、实验和建模来增加对水生生态系统的了解。藻类初级生产和水化学将在风暴事件发生之前、期间和之后进行测量。将进行实验，以确定混合对光和营养的影响，因为它们与藻类生长有关。这些测量和实验的结果将用于构建预测藻类初级生产的数学模型。从这项研究中获得的新知识将提高我们对风暴事件对湖泊影响的理解，以及我们预测生态对气候变化的反应的能力。拟议研究的更广泛影响包括培养博士生和提高科学家预测未来气候干扰或变化将如何影响水生生态系统的能力。

The proposed research will determine how storms affect the primary production (PP) of lake algae. Algae require both nutrients and light to sustain growth, and storm events affect the amounts of nutrients and light that are available to algae. Rain storms wash nutrients into lakes and redistribute nutrients within the lake. Wind storms also redistribute nutrients and cause algae to be exposed to different levels of light. Initial results of this research indicate that significant enhancement of PP from these physical forcing events may be unaccounted for in our current estimates of aquatic production. Specifically, this research will increase current understanding of aquatic ecosystems by combining observational studies, experimentation, and modeling. Algal primary production and water chemistry will be measured before, during, and after storm events. Experiments will be performed to determine the impacts of mixing on light and nutrients as they relate to algal growth. The results from these measurements and experiments will be used to construct a mathematical model to predict algal primary production. The new knowledge derived from this research effort will improve our understanding of the effects of storm events on lakes, and our ability to predict ecological responses to climate change. The broader impacts of the proposed research include training a Ph.D. student and improving the ability of scientists to predict how disturbance or changes in climate will impact aquatic ecosystems in the future.