IRFP: Investigating the ecological impacts of the hippopotamus on watershed ecology

国际研究奖学金项目使美国科学家和工程师能够在国外进行9至24个月的研究。该计划的奖励为联合研究提供了机会，并利用独特或互补的设施、专业知识和国外的实验条件。该奖项将支持Douglas McCauley博士与肯尼亚内罗毕大学的John Githaiga博士和加州大学伯克利分校的Justin Brashares博士开展为期24个月的研究。该项目创建了一个新的国际研究伙伴关系，以调查和量化普通河马（两栖河马）如何将流域生态过程与陆地生态系统的生态过程联系起来。这些大型哺乳动物夜间在陆地区域进食，但白天在水生系统中生活，因此在物理、化学和生态上连接了这些不同的生态系统。了解生态系统之间的联系对于了解这些系统如何运作和有效管理其长期健康至关重要。在这个项目中使用了多种研究方法组合来可视化水陆两栖动物建立的陆地/流域联系，包括：有助于跟踪系统间营养运动模式的稳定同位素；封闭实验提供了关于两栖动物觅食如何影响河岸植物生态的见解；水化学分析揭示了水陆两栖动物是如何改变河流生物地球化学的。从这些不同的研究方法中得出的结论将为流域生态学和生态系统连通性的一般模式提供重要而新颖的见解。撒哈拉以南非洲的野生动物和人类都依赖淡水资源维持生命。了解淡水生态系统的功能取决于认识到它们与周围陆地栖息地生态之间有时是复杂的联系方式。本项目努力描述由普通河马创造的至关重要的水陆联系。随着普通河马数量的迅速减少，河流因过度使用而受到压力，气候变化威胁到区域水循环，我们开始了解河马如何依赖、连接和改变陆地和水生生态系统是非常重要的。这项工作的结果将帮助我们更好地管理这种脆弱的物种，并保护它和撒哈拉以南非洲居民所依赖的生态系统。该项目在IRFP研究员（D. McCauley博士）和内罗毕大学水生生态学肯尼亚专家（J. Githaiga博士）以及加州大学伯克利分校的研究伙伴（J. Brashares博士）之间建立了一个充满活力的新的科学合作。

The International Research Fellowship Program enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct nine to twenty-four months of research abroad. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions abroad.This award will support a twenty-four-month research fellowship by Dr. Douglas McCauley to work with Dr. John Githaiga at the University of Nairobi, Kenya and Dr. Justin Brashares at the University of California Berkeley.This project creates a new international research partnership to investigate and quantify how the common hippopotamus, Hippopotamus amphibious, links ecological processes in watersheds to those in terrestrial ecosystems. These large mammals feed nocturnally in terrestrial zones, but reside diurnally in aquatic systems thus physically, chemically, and ecologically connecting these different ecosystems. Understanding linkages across ecosystems is essential to understanding how these systems function and effectively managing their long-term health. A diverse portfolio of research methods are used in this project to visualize the terrestrial/watershed linkages that are built by H. amphibious including: stable isotopes which help track patterns of inter-system nutrient movement; exclosure experiments that provide insight into how H. amphibious foraging affects riparian plant ecology; and water chemical analyses that reveal how river biogeochemistry is altered by H. amphibious. Conclusions from these different research approaches will provide vital and novel insight into the ecology of watersheds and general patterns of ecosystem connectivity.Both the wildlife and people of sub-Saharan Africa depend upon freshwater resources for life. Understanding how freshwater ecosystems function depends on recognizing the sometimes complex ways they are linked to the ecology of surrounding terrestrial habitats. This project endeavors to describe critically important aquatic-terrestrial linkages that are created by the common hippopotamus. With populations of common hippos rapidly declining, rivers stressed by overuse, and climate change threatening to affect regional water cycles it is extremely important that we begin to understand how hippos depend upon, connect, and alter terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Results from this work will help us better manage this vulnerable species as well as to protect the ecosystems upon which it and the residents of sub-Saharan Africa depend. This project has created a dynamic new scientific collaboration between the IRFP fellow (Dr. D. McCauley) and Kenyan experts in aquatic ecology at the University of Nairobi (Dr. J. Githaiga) -- as well as research partners at the University of California Berkeley (Dr. J. Brashares).