NSF Award
1926565
While most wetlands and ponds are physically isolated, their communities are linked over years and long distances, through a process called "teleconnections." These exchanges occur via atmospheric processes, temporary aquatic connections, natural 'hitchhiking' on other migrating animals, and dispersal by humans. Aquatic systems where these can be studied include Great Plains ephemeral wetlands. These systems, such as playas and prairie potholes, are abundant in grassland ecoregions and support resident invertebrate species, amphibians, and migrating waterfowl. Their ephemeral nature requires residents to periodically seek other aquatic systems or produce resistant eggs that allow them to survive dry periods lasting months to decades. Their 'signature' species are tiny fairy and tadpole shrimps. These lay resistant eggs which can be dispersed by 'wind and wing.' The former includes egg transport by prevailing Great Plains winds, and the latter by eggs hitching rides in the guts of migrating waterfowl to be deposited later in other wetlands. The research will manipulate community composition in outdoor tanks to determine competitive abilities of invertebrates from different sites and to check for migrating branchiopods in the digestive tracts of waterfowl shot by hunters. The project will use this accessible system to develop ecology programs for K-6th grade students; employing young students in science studies; educating under-served student populations, including Native Americans and students from our Hispanic Serving Institution; and working on wetlands-focused conservation.<br/><br/>The research will focus on the question: how do teleconnections (dispersal by wind and wing) and climatic factors influence macroinvertebrate community composition and synchrony (temporal links) in ephemeral ponds within a macrosystem network? This project will test 6 hypotheses on factors shaping community composition that are related to: strong dispersal, geographically variable dispersal, strong climatic synchrony, geographically variable climatic synchrony, equal roles for dispersal and climate, and a null hypothesis on stochasticity. The study will be 25 sites in the greater region, including 5 sites within the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON). The study will consist of: (1) sampling pond invertebrate densities and diversities; (2) analyzing genetic signatures of branchiopod crustacean populations; (3) conducting tank experiments on community assembly; (4) obtaining data on waterfowl migrating through NEON sites; (5) correlating effects of winds and rainfall on species traits; and (6) extracting, hatching, and identifying crustacean eggs from gut contents analysis of waterfowl. Overall, this research will test the validity of a poorly understood phenomenon, that the biota of systems can be coupled without respect to geographic proximity but instead tele-connected by wind or wing.<br/><br/>This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
