Primary production processes in the Laurentian great lakes

史密斯17686公开发布摘要浮游植物是一种微小的藻类，它能产生世界上大部分的氧气，并吸收植物每年从大气中吸收的很大一部分二氧化碳。它们构成了开阔水域的食物网的基础。在湖泊中，如果它们变得非常多产，或者如果有害和/或有毒物种激增，它们也会损害水质。因此，对控制湖泊中生长的浮游植物数量和类型的环境因素有最好的了解是很重要的。对于大型湖泊来说，这是一个特别的挑战，因为传统的方法过于劳动密集型，无法实现良好的覆盖率。这里提出的工作重点是新技术，这些技术给我们提供了关于光、营养物质和陆地径流如何影响五大湖浮游植物的重要答案。它将利用最近对新型设备的投资，以测量种群的光合作用特性、单个细胞和生物体的大小和健康，以及水生群落中有机物质和能量的来源。它将培训学生掌握提高以科学为基础的环境监管和管理的效率和效力所需的先进技术。研究的答案将帮助我们更好地规划和理解气候波动、平流层臭氧消耗、营养物质污染和人类对流域的改变的影响。

Smith 17686Summary for public releasePhytoplankton are microscopic algae that produce much of the world's oxygen and absorb a large fraction of the carbon dioxide taken out of the atmosphere each year by plants. They form the base of the food web in open waters. In lakes, they can also harm water quality if they become very prolific or if harmful and/or toxic species proliferate. Because of this it is important to have the best possible understanding of the environmental factors that control the amounts and types of phytoplankton that grow in lakes. For large lakes this is a particular challenge because traditional methods are too labour intensive to allow good coverage. The work proposed here focuses on new techniques that give us important answers about how light, nutrients, and terrestrial runoff influence phytoplankton in the Great Lakes. It will make use of recent investments in new types of equipment for measuring photosynthetic properties of populations, size and health of individual cells and organisms, and origins of organic material and energy in aquatic communities. It will train students in advanced techniques that are needed to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of science-based environmental regulation and management. The research answers will help us better plan for and understand the implications of climate fluctuations, stratospheric ozone depletion, nutrient pollution and human alteration of drainage basins.