U.S.-New Zealand Cooperative Research: Microbial Ecology of Canopy Soils in Temperate Rain Forests of Southern New Zealand

[244329]斯蒂芬森该奖项将支持微生物生态学方面的合作研究，该研究涉及史蒂文·斯蒂芬森教授和西弗吉尼亚州费尔蒙特州立学院的两名本科生，以及新西兰达尼丁奥塔哥大学的大卫·奥洛维奇教授。最近对新西兰南岛西南海岸温带雨林的研究表明，这些森林中附生群落的生物多样性和生物量与热带森林相当，甚至超过热带森林。冠层土壤的地幔厚达20厘米。还没有发表过关于生活在这种丰富环境中的微生物的研究。该项目的目的是评估生活在这些低地温带雨林冠层土壤微生境中的特定类型真菌的生物多样性和生态学，并描述在那里发现的微生物组合的特征。该项目将为两名美国本科生提供参加新西兰实地和实验室研究的机会，并与奥塔哥大学的科学家和学生进行互动。他们将在国际合作中获得宝贵的经验，并在美国没有的热带雨林环境中工作。这项研究本身将能够就南半球温带森林一个鲜为人知的子系统中微生物的丰度、生物多样性和一般发生模式编制一套基线数据。

0244329StephensonThis award will support collaborative research in microbial ecology involving Professor Steven Stephenson and two undergraduate students of Fairmont State College in West Virginia together with Professor David Orlovich of the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand. Recent studies of temperate rainforests on the southwest coast of the South Island of New Zealand indicate that the biodiversity and biomass of epiphytic communities in these forests are comparable to or even exceed those of tropical forests. The mantle of canopy soil is as much as 20 cm. thick. There have been no published studies of the microorganisms living in this rich environment. The objectives of this project are to assess the biodiversity and ecology of specific types of fungi living in the canopy soil microhabitat of these lowland temperate rain forests and to characterize the assemblages of microorganisms found there.The project will provide an opportunity for two US undergraduate students to participate in field and laboratory research in New Zealand and to interact with scientists and students of the University of Otago. They will gain invaluable experience in international collaboration as well as working in a rain forest environment not available in the United States. The research itself will allow a body of baseline data to be developed on the abundance, biodiversity and general patterns of occurrence of microorganisms in a poorly known subsystem of temperate forests in the Southern Hemisphere.