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

摘要协同研究：尺度规则在河流生态系统能量流中的应用[j]: Louis A. Kaplan, Anthony K. Aufdenkampe， J. Denis Newbold, Robert H. Findlay, Peggy H. ostrom]水生生态系统中溶解在水中的天然有机分子构成了最大的有机物库。在溪流和河流中，源自陆生植被的分子是有机物的主要来源，微生物在向河道移动的过程中对土壤和地下水进行了修饰。这些来自陆地的分子在向下游运输的过程中，为淡水和沿海海洋环境中存在的生物上有用的化学能做出了贡献。我们的研究使用稳定同位素的一种新应用来量化整个排水网络中的这些贡献，我们在尺度规则的背景下进行调查，这些规则有助于信息从一个栖息地或系统转移到其他栖息地或系统。我们将在富含稳定碳同位素的大气中种植年轻的落叶树，收获并堆肥树木，并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器到五阶流的系统中跟踪这些有机分子的命运。结合从溪流流向海洋时如何“生长”的知识中得出的缩放规则与溪流中营养吸收相关的缩放规则，使我们能够测试关于有机分子如何在溪流网络中用作能量的假设。这项研究对于在生态学研究和饮用水工业中使用标度规则具有广泛的意义，其中有机分子为分配系统中不必要的微生物生长提供营养，并为消毒的致癌副产物提供构建块。我们的方法还可以提供一种预测工具，用于了解通过与自然存在的有机分子相关联而向下游输送的人为污染物的命运和运输。

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.