CAREER: Mechanisms of Phytoplankton Community Re-organization Under Global Change

淡水正在成为世界范围内的主要限制资源。全球环境变化正在加剧淡水限制，不仅对水量产生负面影响，而且对水质产生负面影响，刺激全球水体出现有害藻类水华(HAB)。该项目旨在了解和预测湖泊中的微小藻类群落如何以及何时由造成淡水中大多数赤潮的有毒藻类(特别是蓝藻)向优势地位转变。利用密歇根州的湖泊采样和数学模型，利奇曼将探索全球变暖如何改变湖水运动，从而改变影响藻类生长的光照和温度等条件，包括有毒的蓝藻。由于许多赤潮可以增加水中氮素的有效性，该项目还将研究营养物质可用性的变化如何影响藻类之间的相互作用。最后，利奇曼将探索有害蓝藻对气候变化的快速进化反应如何塑造微小藻类的群落组成，并影响水质。在该奖项期间，利奇曼将在密歇根州立大学为高级本科生和研究生讲授一门新的田野水生生态学课程，重点是全球环境变化对水生生态系统的影响。来自当地农村学校的教师将与PI合作，开展适合年龄的学习活动，内容涉及水生态、水质问题和全球变化。本科生和研究生将参与该项目，当地湖泊居民和湖泊协会也将参与该项目，他们将帮助采样工作，以检测形成赤潮的物种。利奇曼将与欧洲同事合作，采用湖泊物理模型来预测未来的赤潮发生。

Fresh water is becoming a major limiting resource worldwide. Global environmental change is exacerbating freshwater limitation by negatively affecting not only water quantity but quality as well, through stimulating harmful algal blooms (HABs) in waterbodies across the globe. This project aims to understand and predict how and when communities of microscopic algae in lakes shift towards dominance by the toxic algae (cyanobacteria in particular) responsible for most HABs in freshwaters. Using lake sampling in Michigan and mathematical models, Litchman will explore how global warming alters lake water movement and thus conditions such as light and temperature that affect algae growth, including toxic cyanobacteria. Because many HABs can increase the availability of nitrogen in the water, the project will also investigate how changing nutrient availability affects interactions among algal groups. Finally, Litchman will explore how rapid evolutionary response of harmful cyanobacteria to changing climate shapes community composition of microscopic algae and impacts water quality. During this award, Litchman will teach a new course on Field Aquatic Ecology at Michigan State University for advanced undergraduate and graduate students focusing on the effects of global environmental change on aquatic ecosystems. Teachers from local rural schools will work with the PI to develop age-appropriate learning activities on aquatic ecology, water quality issues and global change. Undergraduate and graduate students will participate in the project as will local lake residents and lake associations who will aid in sampling efforts to detect HAB-forming species. Litchman will collaborate with European colleagues on adapting lake physics models to predict HAB occurrences in the future.