PECASE: Exploring Population Persistence and Community Assembly Through "Resurrection Ecology"

University Of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign, Urbana IL

Investigators

Abstract

Proposal Title: PECASE: Exploring Population Persistence and Community Assembly Through "Resurrection Ecology" Institution: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Dormant eggs of zooplankton accumulate in large numbers in lake sediments, where they can remain viable for centuries. When eggs are removed from the lake and hatched, they provide a living link to past communities. Dozens of lakes in Vermilion Co., Illinois were formed within the past century by strip-mining, and I will use these lakes to address questions regarding how different factors influence the persistence ability of populations, and consequently, the development of aquatic communities. I will take sediment cores that extend to the formation of each lake. This presents a unique opportunity to examine factors responsible for why populations become extinct, since the eggs contained within the core display the entire colonization history of zooplankton, and demonstrate patterns of species replacement through time. Many of these dormant eggs can be hatched, allowing me to use multiple populations of Daphnia to investigate the relative importance of within population (genetic diversity, life-history variation) versus among population (competition, predation) processes in determining changes in species composition over time. As part of the education component, I will produce a manual for elementary school teachers that will include activities for self-guided field trips of the lakes located a state park. This project was originally funded as a CAREER award, and was converted to a Presidential Early Career Award for Engineers and Scientists (PECASE) award in September 2004.