In a famous essay, S.A. Forbes (1887) likened lakes to self-sustaining microcosms. While this micrcosm view has persisted, disparate research shows that the metabolism, carbon storage, and even food webs of lakes are linked to subsidies from their terrestrial watersheds. These linkages affects the carbon balance of regions and even the globe. This area is ripe synthesis which will weave the disparate threads above into a cohesive cloth. The main activity in this OPUS proposal is to complete a book on Inland Waters and the Carbon Cycle. The book, which is nearly finished, will be published in the Excellence in Ecology Series of the Inter-Research Publishing Company in Oldendorf, Germany. This OPUS grant will allow a modest amount of quiet, funded time to complete this book and produce two review articles on the topic.
The book itself is a broader impact in that it will make the PIs perspective on terrestrial support of aquatic systems available to a broader range of ecologists. The ECI Book Series does a good job of promoting these books to the larger ecological community. Additionally, the PI has a great deal of data that is not yet in any formal data management system. The PI will spend part of his time organizing these data and then making them available to the public. Cole will use material from this synthesis in Cary's radio program "Earth Wise", a one minute spot that airs daily on WAMC and covers environmental topics for the public. Finally, Cole will use his work on terrestrial support of the Hudson River Food web to augment the Cary program "Changing Hudson", a project that uses one large river to teach both teachers and K-12 students about ecosystem ecology. Further Cole will contribute material to Cary's bi-weekly column, "Eco-focus" in the Poughkeepsie Journal.
