KEY OBJECTIVES. HUMAN LAND USE IS THE LEADING THREAT TO FRESHWATER BIODIVERSITY. RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN LAND USE AND FRESHWATER ORGANISMS ARE WELL STUDIED AT LOCAL WITHIN-STREAM SCALES YET THERE REMAINS A SIGNIFICANT GAP IN OUR UNDERSTANDING OF HOW THESE RELATIONSHIPS SCALE UP TO LARGER CONTINENTAL EXTENTS. IN ADDITION THESE SCALING RELATIONSHIPS MAY VARY AMONG DIFFERENT FORMS OF FRESHWATER BIODIVERSITY TAXONOMIC FUNCTIONAL AND PHYLOGENETIC. THESE KNOWLEDGE GAPS MUST BE ADDRESSED BECAUSE HUMAN LAND USES (AGRICULTURAL AND URBAN) ARE PROJECTED TO INCREASE BY 2100 IN THE UNITED STATES ESPECIALLY IN REGIONS OF HIGH FRESHWATER FAUNAL DIVERSITY AND ENDEMISM. THE OVERARCHING OBJECTIVES OF THIS PROPOSED RESEARCH ARE TO CHARACTERIZE RELATIONSHIPS OF REMOTELY SENSED LAND USE CLIMATE AND PRIMARY PRODUCTIVITY WITH DIFFERENT FORMS OF STREAM INSECT DIVERSITY ACROSS THREE SPATIAL SCALES WITHIN THE CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES. THIS KNOWLEDGE WILL ENABLE ROBUST FRESHWATER BIODIVERSITY MAPPING FOR CURRENT AND FUTURE LAND USE AND CLIMATE CHANGE. BIODIVERSITY IS OFTEN ASSESSED AS TAXONOMIC DIVERSITY YET IT IS ALSO IMPORTANT TO QUANTIFY RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN LAND USE AND FUNCTIONAL AND PHYLOGENETIC DIVERSITY. THESE DIFFERENT FORMS OF DIVERSITY ARE CONSIDERED ESSENTIAL BIODIVERSITY VARIABLES FOR CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT. THUS A SUB-OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROPOSED RESEARCH IS TO QUANTIFY HOW RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN FRESHWATER BIODIVERSITY AND LAND USE CLIMATE AND PRIMARY PRODUCTIVITY DIFFER AMONG THESE THREE FORMS OF DIVERSITY AND ACROSS SPATIAL SCALES. PREDICTION OF FRESHWATER BIODIVERSITY AT LARGE SPATIAL SCALES IS HINDERED BECAUSE FRESHWATER PRIMARY PRODUCTIVITY AND OTHER ECOSYSTEM MEASURES THAT PREDICT BIODIVERSITY ARE UNDER-SAMPLED AND DIFFICULT TO REMOTELY SENSE ESPECIALLY FOR SMALL STREAMS AND PONDS. TO OVERCOME THESE SAMPLING LIMITATIONS REMOTELY SENSED MEASURES OF TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS CAN BE USED AS PROXIES TO PREDICT FRESHWATER BIODIVERSITY. A SUB-OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROPOSED RESEARCH IS TO ASSESS AT WHICH SCALES REMOTELY SENSED TERRESTRIAL DATA FROM NASA S EARTH OBSERVING SYSTEM PROVIDE ROBUST INDICATORS OF FRESHWATER BIODIVERSITY. METHODS AND TECHNIQUES. I WILL USE LINEAR MIXED EFFECTS MODELS TO EXAMINE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN LAND USE AND STREAM INSECT DIVERSITY IN THREE FORMS TAXONOMIC FUNCTIONAL AND PHYLOGENETIC IN THE CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES. USING THE US GEOLOGICAL SURVEY HYDROLOGICAL UNIT CODES I WILL ASSESS THESE RELATIONSHIPS AT THREE NESTED SCALES: SUBWATERSHED SUBBASIN AND SUBREGION. I WILL EXAMINE HOW WATERSHED FEATURES SUCH AS CLIMATE PRIMARY PRODUCTIVITY AND TOPOGRAPHY MODIFY RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN LAND USE AND BIODIVERSITY IN ORDER TO IDENTIFY WATERSHED CONFIGURATIONS THAT CONFER SENSITIVITY OR RESISTANCE TO HUMAN LAND USE. REMOTELY SENSED DATA FROM NASA MODIS WILL BE USED TO QUANTIFY LAND USE LAND COVER TYPES AND CONFIGURATIONS AND PRIMARY PRODUCTIVITY AND DATA FROM NASA S SRTM WILL BE USED FOR TOPOGRAPHY. THIS STUDY WOULD BE THE FIRST TO USE REMOTELY SENSED DATA TO QUANTIFY RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE TERRESTRIAL ENVIRONMENT CLIMATE AND FRESHWATER INSECT DIVERSITY FROM LOCAL TO CONTINENTAL SCALES. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PROPOSED RESEARCH TO NASA. THIS RESEARCH DIRECTLY ALIGNS NASA S SCIENCE GOALS TO DETECT AND PREDICT CHANGES IN EARTH S ECOLOGICAL AND BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES INCLUDING LAND COVER BIODIVERSITY AND THE GLOBAL CARBON CYCLE (CARBON CYCLE AND ECOSYSTEMS). THIS STUDY WILL HELP IDENTIFY THE SCALES AT WHICH DIFFERENT NASA DATA PRODUCTS ARE EFFECTIVE MEASURES FOR PREDICTING AND MAPPING FRESHWATER BIODIVERSITY. IN THE FUTURE THE USE OF NASA DATA PRODUCTS COULD CIRCUMVENT LIMITATIONS IN PREDICTING FRESHWATER BIODIVERSITY DUE TO UNDER-SAMPLING FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEMS. THE KNOWLEDGE PROVIDED BY THIS STUDY WILL ADVANCE ECOLOGICAL FORECASTING AND CONSERVATION PLANNING FOR FRESHWATER BIODIVERSITY AND THE GROWING FIELD OF REMOTE SENSING OF BIODIVERSITY.