We have recently expanded our work beyond Sarracenia to consider the short- and long-term effects of nutrient loading on community structure and ecosystem processes in North American bogs and fens. Using a combination of manipulative field experiments and continental surveys, we are quantifying the effects of nutrient loading on the biodiversity of microbes, ants, rotifers, and plants. We hope to understand how microbial nutrient transformations and hydrologic regimes may mediate the effects of nutrient inputs. This is the first study to take a multi-trophic perspective on nutrient loading at a continental scale.
Seed money for this study comes from a Vermont NSF/EPSCoR grant.
(The text above comes from Nick Gotelli's research website, see link below.)
Relevant Publications:
- Mouser, P.J., Hession, W.C., Rizzo, D.M., Gotelli, N.J. (2005), Hydrology and Geostatistics in a Vermont, U.S.A. Kettlehole Peatland, Journal of Hydrology, 301, (1-4), 250-266.
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