Title: Integrating Solute Transport, Metabolism and Processing in Stream Ecosystems. Abstract approved:

After three decades of active research coupling hydrology and stream ecology, the connection among solute transport, metabolism and processing is still unresolved. These knowledge gaps obscure the functioning of stream ecosystems and how those ecosystems interact with other landscape processes. We must resolve these challenges to wisely manage water resources, because there is a need to understand controls on stream ecosystems at local, regional and continental scales, and because we need to predict in-stream biogeochemical processes in environments and conditions that do not have supporting data. More robust methods are required to deconvolve signal imprints of solute transport, metabolism and processing, thus allowing the development and implementation of improved decision-making approaches for stream management. Recognizing that uncertainty and equifinality are ubiquitous issues in hydrologic problems, this dissertation focuses on the development of parsimonious methods to couple solute transport, metabolism and processing in stream ecosystems. These methods consist of scaling and predicting relationships for solute transport, efficient modeling frameworks to estimate processing rates in streams, and the use of the smart trace