Collaborative Research: The Application of Scaling Rules to Energy Flow in Stream Ecosystems

合作研究：尺度规则在河流生态系统能量流中的应用PI：Louis A.Kaplan、Anthony K.Aufdenkampe、J.Denis Newbold、Robert H.Findlay和Peggy H.Ostrom自然存在的溶解于水中的有机分子构成了水生生态系统中最大的有机物质池。在溪流和河流中，起源于陆地植被的分子是有机质的主要来源，这些分子在进入河道的过程中被微生物改变了土壤和地下水。这些在下游运输的陆地衍生分子有助于淡水和沿海海洋环境中存在的生物有用的化学能量。我们的研究使用稳定同位素的新应用来量化整个水系网络中的这些贡献，我们在促进信息从一个栖息地或系统转移到其他栖息地或系统的尺度规则的背景下进行了我们的调查。我们将在富含碳的稳定同位素的大气中种植幼小的落叶树，收获树木并将其堆肥，提取堆肥以制备复杂的微生物修饰分子的渗滤液，并在从小型实验室反应堆到五级流的系统中跟踪这些有机分子的命运。将从溪流流向海洋时如何“生长”的知识得出的比例规则与与溪流中营养物质吸收相关的比例规则相结合，使我们能够测试关于河流网络中有机分子如何被用作能量的假设。这项研究对于在生态学研究和饮用水工业中使用比例规则具有广泛的意义，因为在饮用水工业中，有机分子既为分配系统中不必要的微生物生长提供营养，也为消毒的致癌副产品提供基石。我们的方法还可能提供一种预测工具，可用于了解人为污染物的命运和运输，这些污染物通过与自然产生的有机分子的联系向下游输送。

AbstractCollaborative Research: The Application of Scaling Rules to Energy Flow in Stream EcosystemsPIs: Louis A. Kaplan, Anthony K. Aufdenkampe, J. Denis Newbold, Robert H. Findlay, and Peggy H. OstromNaturally occurring organic molecules dissolved in water constitute the largest pool of organic matter in aquatic ecosystems. Within streams and rivers, molecules that originate in terrestrial vegetation and are modified within soils and groundwater by microorganisms during movement to the channel, are the dominant source of organic matter. These terrestrially derived molecules in transport downstream contribute to the biologically useful chemical energy present in freshwater and coastal marine environments. Our research uses a novel application of stable isotopes to quantify those contributions throughout a drainage network, and we frame our investigations within the context of scaling rules that facilitate the transfer of information from one habitat or system to others. We will grow young deciduous trees in an atmosphere enriched with the stable isotope of carbon, harvest and compost the trees, and extract the compost to prepare a leachate of complex, microbially modified molecules, and follow the fate of those organic molecules in systems which range from small laboratory reactors to a 5th order stream. Combining scaling rules derived from the knowledge of how streams "grow" as they flow towards the ocean with scaling rules associated with nutrient uptake in streams, allows us to test hypotheses concerning how organic molecules are used for energy within a stream network. This research has broad implications for the use of scaling rules in ecological studies and for the drinking water industry where organic molecules provide both nutrients for the unwanted growth of microorganisms in distribution systems and the building blocks for the carcinogenic byproducts of disinfection. Our approach also may provide a predictive tool that can be used to learn about the fate and transport of anthropogenic contaminants that are transported downstream through their association with naturally occurring organic molecules.