International Research Fellowship Program: Effects of Soils and Precipitation on Plant and Ecosystem Traits in South African Savanna

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0301834CraineThe International Research Fellowship Program enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct three to twenty-four months of research abroad. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions abroad.This award will support an eighteen month research fellowship by Dr. Joseph Craine to work with Dr. William Bond at the University of Cape Town in South Africa and with Dr. Peter Reich at the University of Minnesota.This project will combine broad-scale surveys of several root and shoot traits (chemical, stable isotope and tissue densities) to relate to large gradients in soil type and annual precipitation in the Kruger National Park. The humid grasslands in some parts of Africa have a faunal assemblage that has not been depleted like on other continents. Along broad precipitation gradients in Kruger, the PI will characterize traits of roots and leaves of a wide variety of herbaceous species as well as to characterize the nitrogen cycles of the grasslands and their responses to N and P fertilization. These studies may serve as a useful model system for understanding the basic drivers of grassland-grazer interactions and ecosystem function. The key to understanding why grazers reach their highest abundance in the drier grasslands (and on certain soil types) requires understanding relationships among the construction and functioning of roots and leaves, grazing, and nutrient cycling. Aside from the importance of understanding the African grazing ecosystems in and of themselves, as many in North America seek to reintroduce bison, elk, horses and other species to areas of the Great Plains of North America, it is important to first understand the functioning of grasslands that still have a full complement of grazers.