Acquisition of a nitrogen analyzer

植物组织和土壤中的全氮含量是生态学研究中广泛使用的一种测定方法。我们每年需要800次这样的分析，这是我们目前分析仪所能处理的两倍。在此，我们请求购买额外的氮分析仪和辅助设备。我们系的四个研究项目严重依赖于总氮的测定。两个小组的重点是植物对胁迫(干旱、营养、盐度和极端光照水平)的反应，以及这些反应如何影响草食性昆虫的种群和进化反应。第三组着眼于植物群落随时间的分布，并询问土壤类型如何影响特定地点植物群落数千年来的持久性。第四组对荒地向橡树稀树草原演替过程中植物对矿产资源的竞争机制进行了实验分析。

Total nitrogen content of plant tissues and soils is a widely used assay in ecological research. We have need for 800 such assays each year which is twice what our current analyzer can handle. Here we request purchase of an additional nitrogen analyzer and ancillary equipment. Four research programs in our department rely heavily upon total nitrogen determinations. Two groups focus on plant responses to stress (drought, nutrient, salinity and extreme light levels) and how those responses influence the population and evolutionary responses of herbivorous insects. The third group looks at the distribution of plant communities through time and asks how soil type influences the persistence of plant communities at particular sites over thousands of years. The fourth group focuses on experimental analysis of the mechanisms of plant competition for mineral resources during the succession from abandoned fields to oak savanna.