Development of Functional Trait Measures for Assessing Stream Ecosystem State

我的长期目标是开发和应用新的环境评估方法，以建立对河流环境影响的机械解释。接下来，我的节目将研究由于生态特征组成的变化而发生的河流生态系统的功能变化。目前以分类学为基础的诊断河流生态系统状况退化原因的方法存在问题，因为它们与功能措施的联系很差。相反，基于生态特征的信息有可能提供生物对特定环境干扰(例如，沉积、营养丰富)的反应的机械性联系。当多种环境应激源对生物群落产生累积影响时，基于特征的方法有可能为在广泛的空间尺度上的应用产生一致的衡量标准，并将因果关系联系起来。

My long term objectives develop and apply novel environmental assessment approaches to establish mechanistic explanations of environmental impacts on rivers. Next, my program will examine functional changes to river ecosystems that occur as a result of shifts in ecological trait composition. Current taxonomically-based methods for diagnosing the cause of degraded river ecosystem conditions are problematic as they are poorly linked to functional measures. In contrast, ecological traits-based information has the potential to provide mechanistic linkages of biotic responses to specific environmental disturbances (e.g., sedimentation, nutrient enrichment). Traits-based approaches have the potential to produce consistent metrics for application across broad spatial scales and associate cause and effect when multiple environmental stressors have cumulative consequences on biological communities.