Dissertation Research: The Community And Ecosystem Consequences Of Plant Genotypic Diversity

全球生物多样性的下降促使人们研究生物多样性对生态系统的功能是否重要。迄今为止，大部分研究都集中在物种的丧失如何影响相关的社区和生态系统。直到最近，生态学家才意识到，物种内部遗传多样性的丧失与物种多样性的丧失一样令人担忧。本提案中的研究旨在了解优势植物一枝黄花（高大一枝黄花）遗传多样性减少对相关昆虫和植物群落以及初级生产和养分循环的生态系统过程的影响。 高大的一枝黄花是美国东部最常见的植物之一，可能在许多生态系统中起着关键作用。 这项工作的目标是将以前和正在进行的操纵遗传多样性的实验与植物自然种群的观察相匹配。具体来说，研究人员将询问相关昆虫群落的多样性是否与天然植物斑块中的基因型多样性呈正相关，正如在操纵实验中观察到的那样。 这项工作具有广泛的吸引力，因为它将填补我们目前对物种内生物多样性对陆地生态系统重要性的认识中的一些空白。这是一个博士论文改进奖，支持研究生的研究和他们的研究成果的传播。

Global declines in biodiversity have spurred research into whether biodiversity is important for the functioning of ecosystems. To date, much of this research has focused on how the loss of species affects associated communities and ecosystems. Only recently have ecologists realized that loss of genetic diversity within a species is as much a concern as loss of species diversity. The research in this proposal aims at understanding the consequences of reductions in genetic diversity within a dominant plant, Solidago altissima (tall goldenrod), for associated insect and plant communities and for ecosystem processes of primary production and nutrient cycling. Tall goldenrod is one of the most common plants in the eastern United States and likely plays a critical role in many ecosystems. The goal of this work is to match previous and ongoing experiments that manipulate genetic diversity with observations in natural populations of plants. Specifically, the investigators will ask if the diversity of associated insect communities is positively correlated with genotypic diversity in natural plant patches, as has been observed in manipulative experiments. This work has broad appeal in that it will fill several gaps in our current understanding of the importance of biodiversity within species for terrestrial ecosystems. This is a doctoral dissertation improvement award that supports the research of a graduate student and the dissemination of their research results.