Synthetic Ecology for the management and commercial exploitation of freshwater ecosystems

主题：农业和粮食安全与植物科学部成员合作，编写了一份概念文件(Kazamia等人，2013年)，内容是如何利用我们对生态系统过程的理解将系统推向理想的终点。其目的是为一个系统播种关键组件，因此这些组件可能会稳定在一个理想的终点。我们有可能使用双壳类霉菌、化感物质、竞争者和增效剂，或者限制营养来故意改变群落。例如，这可能允许我们获得清澈的水(即标准的生物操纵)，将一个系统推向富含脂肪的藻类群落以生产生物燃料，或者分别为受威胁或入侵生物创造特别有利或特别不利的条件。研究可以将实验室研究与放大的中层生态系统相结合，并与水工业进行全面的试验。该项目有可能利用系统生物学和建模来模拟生态系统的相互作用，并预测在一系列不同环境条件和物种多样性下可能出现的稳定的顶层群落。该项目肯定需要使用统计分析和建模，这可以通过使用R Studio和MatLab等程序来实现。

Theme: Agriculture and Food SecurityIn collaboration with members of the Plant Sciences Department a concept paper (Kazamia et al., 2013) was developed on how we can use our understanding of ecosystem processes to push a system towards a desirable end-point. The aim is to seed a system with key components, which are therefore likely to stabilise towards a desirable end point. We have the potential to use bivalve moullscs, allelopathic substances, competitors and synergists, or limiting nutrients to intentionally alter communities. This might, for example, allow us to gain clear water (i.e. standard biomanipulation), move a system towards a lipid rich algal community for biofuel production, or create conditions that are particularly favourable or unfavourable for a threatened or invasive organism respectively. Studies can combine laboratory studies with scaled-up mesocosms and full scale trials with the water industry.This project has the potential to utilise systems biology and modelling to emulate ecosystem interactions and predict the stable climax communities which may arise under a range of different environmental conditions and species diversities. The project will certainly require the use of statistical analysis and modelling which can be achieved by using programmes such as R Studio and MatLab.