Dissertation Research: Linking successional dynamics of bacterioplankton communities to biogeochemical processes at the landscape scale.

微生物学的最新进展强调了细菌在调节生态系统过程中的主导作用。这里提出的研究探讨细菌多样性和生态系统动态之间的关系，通过实验确定如何在高海拔湖泊的塞拉内华达州（加州，美国）的细菌群落的季节性变化与溶解有机物的组成和代谢的变化。这项研究扩展了以前的论文工作，展示了这些环境中可预测的细菌群落变化，并将群落变化与融雪驱动的有机物组成变化联系起来。 预计区域气候变化将显著影响融雪动态，美国西部的大气营养物沉积正在导致山地湖泊逐渐富营养化（过量营养物），其中许多湖泊位于保护区内。与国家公园管理局、美国农业部林务局和加州空气资源委员会合作，这项工作的结果将为区域管理水质和维护自然生态系统功能的努力提供信息。最后，通过定义时间动态的细菌的背景下，集水区有机质供应组成，季节性湖泊过渡，和流入的微生物群落的特性和速率，我们的目标是开发第一个机械说明细菌的变化与生态系统过程。

Recent advances in microbiology have underscored the dominant role of bacteria in regulating ecosystem processes. The research proposed here examines the relationship between bacterial diversity and ecosystem dynamics by determining experimentally how seasonal changes in bacterial communities in high-elevation lakes of the Sierra Nevada (California, USA) associate with changes in the composition and metabolism of dissolved organic matter. This study expands on previous dissertation work demonstrating predictable bacterial community changes in these environments and linking community shifts to snowmelt-driven changes in organic matter composition. Regional climate shifts are predicted to significantly affect snowmelt dynamics, and atmospheric deposition of nutrients in the western U.S. is leading to gradual eutrophication (excess nutrients) of montane lakes, many of which are located in protected areas. In collaboration with the National Park Service, the USDA-Forest Service, and the California Air Resources Board the results of this work will inform regional efforts to manage water quality and the maintenance of natural ecosystem function. Finally, by defining temporal dynamics of bacteria in the context of catchment organic matter supply & composition, seasonal lake transitions, and the character and rate of inflowing microbial communities, we aim to develop the first mechanistic illustration of bacterial changes linked to landscape-scale ecosystem processes.