Collaborative Research: Wildlife subsidies interact with discharge to influence ecosystem function of a large African river

合作研究：野生动物补贴与排放相互作用，影响非洲大河的生态系统功能

• 批准号: 1354053
• 负责人: David Post
• 金额: $ 55.91万
• 依托单位: Yale University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-05-15 至 2018-04-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1354053&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Wildlife; subsidies; interact

Animal migrations are some of the most remarkable spectacles of nature and can result in significant engineering of ecological processes. For example, migrating animals have the potential to move large amounts of carbon, nitrogen, and other important nutrients among ecosystems. The Mara River in East Africa supports the largest remaining overland migration in the world: 1.5 million wildebeest and over 4,000 hippopotami. This project will use small-scale and whole-stream experiments, river sampling and theoretical models to test how nutrient inputs into the Mara River by wildebeest and hippopotami interact with river discharge to influence ecosystem processes such as primary production, nutrient cycling, and whole-ecosystem metabolism. The Mara River is one of the few remaining unregulated rivers heavily influenced by large wildlife populations, and provides a unique opportunity for research. Findings will improve understanding of ecosystems where large wildlife play an important role, and provide a baseline for comparison with systems where wildlife have disappeared or been replaced by humans and domesticated animals.This research will have relevance to regional concerns relating to both wildlife and water quality. The Mara River is critical to the Serengeti Mara ecosystem and provides water for nearly one million rural poor. Declining water quality has been linked to outbreaks of typhoid and cholera, and eutrophication of Lake Victoria. In addition, wildebeest migration and mass drowning events are of local concern to managers in the Maasai Mara National Park. Research will also address human inputs into the river, which may inform decision makers about how more effective sewage treatment could benefit the region. The project will train undergraduate students, graduate students, and a postdoc from the USA, and graduate students from around East Africa. Partnerships with the National Geographic Society and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) will distribute research results through print, video and web-based initiatives. The WWF partnership will use real-time monitoring data from the Mara, photos from live camera traps, and blog updates to disseminate findings to stakeholders, resource managers, and the public.

动物迁徙是自然界最引人注目的奇观之一，可以对生态过程产生重大影响。例如，迁徙动物有可能在生态系统中转移大量碳、氮和其他重要营养物质。东非的马拉河养育着世界上现存规模最大的陆路迁徙：150 万头角马和 4,000 多只河马。该项目将利用小规模全流实验、河流采样和理论模型来测试角马和河马向马拉河输入的养分如何与河流排放相互作用，从而影响初级生产、养分循环和整体生态系统过程。生态系统的新陈代谢。马拉河是为数不多的受大量野生动物种群严重影响的不受管制的河流之一，为研究提供了独特的机会。研究结果将增进对大型野生动物发挥重要作用的生态系统的了解，并为与野生动物已经消失或被人类和驯养动物取代的系统进行比较提供基线。这项研究将与野生动物和水质相关的区域问题相关。马拉河对塞伦盖蒂马拉生态系统至关重要，为近百万农村贫困人口提供水源。水质下降与伤寒和霍乱的爆发以及维多利亚湖的富营养化有关。此外，角马迁徙和大规模溺水事件也是马赛马拉国家公园管理人员关心的问题。研究还将解决人类对河流的投入，这可能会让决策者了解更有效的污水处理如何使该地区受益。该项目将培训来自美国的本科生、研究生和博士后，以及来自东非各地的研究生。与国家地理学会和世界自然基金会 (WWF) 的合作将通过印刷品、视频和基于网络的举措传播研究成果。世界自然基金会的合作伙伴关系将利用马拉的实时监测数据、现场相机陷阱的照片以及博客更新来向利益相关者、资源管理者和公众传播调查结果。