Deforestation-induced phenotypic change in an African cyprinid: Adaptation, plasticity and implications for ecosystem function

世界各地的森林砍伐正以惊人的速度发展。森林流失对淡水河流和湖泊的负面影响(水化学变化、沉积等)威胁到我们从淡水中获得的服务的可持续收获。因此，研究土地利用与水生生物群落之间的相互作用具有重要意义。 生物学家早就知道，生态系统中特定物种的存在或不存在会极大地改变该生态系统的功能。最近，生态学家开始认为，同一物种种群之间的微小差异也会影响生态系统的功能。通过考察不同程度的森林砍伐造成的同一物种种群间差异在生态系统层面上的后果，我的研究旨在弥合两个非常不同但同样重要的主题：森林砍伐对水生生物的影响以及种群差异对生态系统功能的影响。 我将使用乌干达鱼Barbus appayeri来解决这些问题，因为这种模式生物呈现出各种特征，从实验角度来看是有利的，而且完全缺乏对热带河流的研究。我将在实验室和野外使用不同的技术，包括形态分析、食物分析、水箱行为实验和河流围栏实验。除了解决目前人们非常感兴趣的理论问题外，这些实验还具有实际应用，即考察森林砍伐如何影响水生生物和河流功能。除了帮助乌干达这个非常需要专业知识的国家进行淡水管理外，这项研究还阐述了适用于全球任何淡水生态系统的一般原则，并将向我们介绍砍伐森林对我们自己的加拿大河流功能的影响。

Deforestation progresses at alarming rates around the world. The negative effects of forest loss on freshwater rivers and lakes (changes in water chemistry, sedimentation, etc.) threaten the sustainable harvest of the services that we derive from freshwaters. It is therefore of prime importance to study the interaction between land use and aquatic biological communities. Biologists have long known that the presence or absence of particular species in an ecosystem can dramatically alter how this ecosystem functions. Very recently, ecologists have started thinking that small differences across populations of the same species can also affect ecosystem functioning. By looking at the ecosystem-level consequences of the variation between populations of one species caused by different degrees of deforestation, my research aims at bridging two very different but equally important topics: the impact of deforestation on aquatic organisms and the consequences of population differences for ecosystem function. I will address these questions using the Ugandan fish Barbus neumayeri, as this model organism presents a variety of characteristics that makes it advantageous from an experimental perspective, and because there is a complete lack of studies on tropical rivers. I will use different techniques in both the laboratory and the field, including morphology analysis, diet analysis, behavioral experiments in tanks, and enclosure experiments in rivers. Apart from addressing theoretical questions for which there is currently much interest, these experiments have the practical application of examining how deforestation affects aquatic organisms and river function. In addition to helping freshwater management in Uganda, a country in great need of expert knowledge, this research addresses general principles applicable to any freshwater ecosystem worldwide, and will inform us of the consequences of deforestation on the functioning of our own Canadian rivers.