SGER: Using a Stable Isotope to Track the Fate of Seeds and Seedlings

SGER：使用稳定同位素追踪种子和幼苗的命运

• 批准号: 0636630
• 负责人: Joshua Tewksbury
• 金额: $ 3.09万
• 依托单位: University of Washington
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2006
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2006-09-15 至 2007-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0636630&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SGER; Using; Stable; Isotope; Track

Seed dispersal is important for the assembly and maintenance of diversity in plant communities. Yet, patterns of seed dispersal are notoriously difficult to study because current techniques to link dispersed seeds and/or seedlings to their mother are costly and available only for few plant species. This limits the scope and accuracy of ecological and evolutionary studies that require linking mother plants to their offspring in the field. A new technique that uses Nitrogen stable isotope markers (15N) is proposed here to help breach such a methodological gap. The method consists of spraying the leaves of plants with 15N -labeled urea. Preliminary work shows that 15N signals are reliably passed from mother plant to seeds and retained in seedlings, providing reliable mother-offspring markers. Field experiments will be conducted to test and validate the use of this labeling technique. Tests include the use of different 15N doses to differentially label individual plants or groups at a location, and the ability to use bulk-processed seeds from labeled plants to reduce costs.The use of stable isotopes has promoted major advances in the study of food webs, physiological ecology, and ecosystem function. Yet isotopic techniques have not been used to study seed dispersal and recruitment. This method will have broad appeal because it allows labeling of plants in the field, has the rigor of molecular approaches, and could permit the cheap analysis of many samples. This technique will be particularly relevant for the long-term and long-distance monitoring of seeds.

种子传播对于植物群落多样性的聚集和维持具有重要意义。然而，种子传播的模式是出了名的难以研究，因为目前的技术，分散的种子和/或幼苗连接到他们的母亲是昂贵的，只有少数植物物种。这限制了生态和进化研究的范围和准确性，这些研究需要将母株与田间的后代联系起来。本文提出了一种使用氮稳定同位素标记物（15 N）的新技术，以帮助突破这种方法上的差距。该方法包括用15 N标记的尿素喷洒植物的叶子。初步工作表明，15 N信号可靠地从母体植物传递到种子，并保留在幼苗中，提供可靠的母子标记。将进行实地实验，以测试和验证这种标记技术的使用。这些测试包括使用不同的15 N剂量来区别标记同一地点的个别植物或群体，以及使用标记植物的批量加工种子以降低成本的能力。稳定同位素的使用促进了食物网、生理生态学和生态系统功能研究的重大进展。然而，同位素技术还没有被用于研究种子的传播和补充。这种方法将具有广泛的吸引力，因为它允许在田间标记植物，具有分子方法的严格性，并且可以允许对许多样品进行廉价的分析。这项技术对于种子的长期和远距离监测特别重要。