Community assembly and function in lake plankton

我的研究计划的长期目标是了解湖泊浮游生物元群落中影响群落聚集和结构的因素的分布和相互作用。研究重点是浮游生物，因为它们的结构和组合对湖泊生态系统的功能和服务（如休闲渔业、水质、入侵物种传播）至关重要。本研究的第一个目的是探讨非生物因素的变化对浮游生物群落结构的影响。具体来说，我将研究湖泊内热分层的稳定性和类型的作用。长期以来，对海洋系统的研究主要集中在水柱中物理混合的作用，揭示了其影响浮游生物个体和物种之间接触率和生态相互作用（竞争、捕食）的能力。我将通过一种新的大规模实验方法来改变混合和温跃层形成的正常模式，来检验这些在湖泊中研究严重不足的影响。本研究的第二个目标是通过研究湖泊梯度的功能性状组成，进一步了解湖泊浮游生物群落聚集的机制。功能性状的分布揭示了影响群落聚集的生态因素，可能比单独的分类学更与群落聚集相关。总体而言，我的研究项目进一步了解了浮游生物群落结构与空间结构梯度（湖内和景观水平）、生物挑战（入侵物种）和生物地球化学因素（如磷、溶解有机碳）的关系。

The long term goals of my research program are to understand the distribution of, and interactions between, factors that influence community assembly and structure in lake plankton metacommunities. The research focuses on plankton because their structure and assembly are of primary importance for the functioning and services provided by lake ecosystems (e.g. recreational fisheries, water quality, invasive species spread). The first objective of the proposed research is to explore how changes to abiotic factors influence community structure in plankton. Specifically I will examine the role of the stability and type of thermal stratification within lakes. Research in marine systems has long focused on the role of physical mixing in the water column, uncovering its ability to influence the rates of contact and ecological interaction (competition, predation) between plankton individuals and species. I will examine these effects, which have been grossly understudied in lakes, by using a novel large-scale experimental approach to alter the normal pattern of mixing and thermocline formation. The second objective of the proposed research works to furthering our understanding of the mechanisms that drive community assembly in lake plankton by examining functional trait composition across gradients of lakes. Functional trait distributions shed insight into ecological factors affecting community assembly and are likely to be more relevant to community assembly than taxonomy alone. Overall, my research program furthers understanding of how plankton community structure relates to gradients of spatial structure (both within-lake and landscape-level), biotic challenge (invasive species) and biogeochemical factors (e.g. phosphorus, dissolved organic carbon).