Subterranean invertebrate communities of arid zone Western Australia: diversity, assessment and food-web structure

与西澳大利亚干旱带含水层相关的多样而独特的地下动物群可能受到取水、采矿和其他人类影响的威胁。该项目旨在应用分子遗传分析和化合物特定同位素分析的强大组合，首次研究这些地下水生态系统的食物网络结构和能源来源。该项目还旨在开发新的程序，利用地下水中的环境DNA监测它们的生物多样性。这些结果将为地下水的管理及其相关生态系统的保护提供关键信息，并显著提高长期环境监测的严谨性。

The diverse and unique subterranean fauna associated with aquifers of the Western Australia arid zone is potentially threatened by water extraction, mining and other human impacts. This project aims to apply a powerful combination of molecular genetic analyses and compound specific isotope analyses to study, for the first time, the food web structure and source of energy of these groundwater ecosystems. The project aims to also develop novel procedures for monitoring their biodiversity using environmental DNA within the groundwater. The results will provide crucial information for the management of groundwater, and conservation of their associated ecosystems, and significantly improve the rigour of long-term environmental monitoring.