A mechanistic framework for bottom-up biodiversity effects: riparian forest invasion impacts on headwater stream microbial and macroinvertebrate communities

淡水溪流是一种重要的自然资源，与周围的景观有着生态上的联系。由于它们的性质，河边森林极易受到植物物种的入侵，这些植物物种会积极取代其他物种。该项目将验证一个假设，即水生微生物和大型无脊椎动物群落的生态是由自下而上的过程调节的，这一过程是由陆生植物沿上游入侵而改变的。研究人员将利用外来灌木金银花（Lonicera maackii）对上游河流森林的入侵来评估进入河流的物质的变化，以及这些变化如何改变河流内的栖息地。该项目将进一步评估入侵如何影响溪流微生物生物膜（细菌和真菌）和大型无脊椎动物群落。沿着马氏L. maackii密度梯度的田间评估将辅以田间操作试验来测试机制。总的来说，该项目测试了一个广泛的假设，即入侵导致的河边森林生物多样性的丧失反映了水生群落生物多样性的丧失。拟议工作的基础包括一套广泛的已发表的研究和初步数据。通过为代顿市贫困地区的特许学校的学生提供带薪实习机会，该项目将直接惠及传统上代表性不足的科学群体。该项目将通过涉及各种公园系统的管理人员，直接为整个地区的水生栖息地和河岸区管理提供信息。这一发现可能会影响北美数千英里源头溪流的管理。该基金将通过带薪实习促进本科生的科学培训，支持一名博士研究生，并为博士后研究人员提供良好的培养平台。

Freshwater streams are a critical natural resource and are ecologically linked to the surrounding landscape. Due to their nature, streamside forests are highly vulnerable to invasion by plant species which aggressively displace other species. This project will test the hypothesis that the ecology of aquatic microbial and macroinvertebrate stream communities are regulated by bottom-up processes altered through terrestrial plant invasion along headwater streams. The investigators will use the invasion of headwater stream forests by the exotic shrub Amur honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii) to assess alteration of materials that enter the stream, and how those alterations change the in-stream habitat. The project will further assess how invasion influences stream microbial biofilm (bacteria and fungi) and macroinvertebrate communities. Field assessments along a gradient of L. maackii density will be complemented by field manipulation experiments to test mechanisms. Overall, the project tests the broad hypothesis that the loss of biodiversity in streamside forests due to invasion is mirrored by a loss of biodiversity in the aquatic community. The foundation for the proposed work includes an extensive suite of published studies and preliminary data. This project will directly benefit traditionally underrepresented groups in science by creating paid internship opportunities for urban students from a charter school that serves poverty-stricken parts of urban Dayton. This project will directly inform management of aquatic habitats and riparian zones throughout the region by involving managers from a variety of park systems. The findings could influence management on thousands of miles of headwater streams in North America. This funding will facilitate scientific training of undergraduate students through paid internships, support a PhD student, and provide an excellent training platform for a postdoctoral researcher.