Collaborative Research: MSB: Assembling Litter Decomposer Communities and Functions from the Leaf to the Landscape

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。腐养真菌是森林生态系统凋落叶分解的主要媒介。真菌群落每年在数百万片衰老的叶子上发育，为研究这些生物群落如何聚集和运作提供了理想的机会。本项目将研究真菌群落组成与优势树种分布和生化组成的关系。将使用两种互补的方法：从单个叶子到区域森林景观取样的叶片真菌群落的空间明确调查，以及叶片真菌定植的实验操作。这些方法将有助于阐明受当地环境因素强烈影响的叶片生物化学、物种特征以及扩散和优先效应等过程的相对重要性。真菌对叶片的分解受编码胞外酶的特定功能基因的存在和表达调控。由于真菌中存在巨大的多样性、冗余性和基因组可塑性，目前尚不清楚微生物分类组成的变化在多大程度上影响叶片分解。与叶片分解相关的真菌性状可以独立于叶片上存在的特定真菌分类群进行调节的假设也将得到验证。该项目将培养森林和真菌生态学领域的本科生、研究生和实验室技术人员，为未来科学人才的发展做出贡献。它将为本科生提供个性化的研究机会，但也从根本上整合到更大的研究目标中。本科课程将包括指导和支持专门设计的课程，以补充正在进行的研究。这将为学生提供研究经验，为他们进入研究生院和从事科学工作做好准备。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).Saprotrophic fungi are the primary agents of leaf litter decomposition in forest ecosystems. Fungal communities develop on millions of senescent leaves each year, providing an ideal opportunity to study how these biotic communities assemble and function. This project will examine the relationship between fungal community assembly and the distribution and biochemical makeup of dominant tree species. Two complementary approaches will be used: a spatially-explicit survey of fungal communities on leaves sampling at scales from individual leaves to the regional forest landscape, and an experimental manipulation of fungal colonization of leaves. These approaches will help elucidate the relative importance of leaf biochemistry, a species trait, and processes such as dispersal and priority effects, which are strongly influenced by local environmental factors. Decomposition of leaves by fungi is regulated by the presence and expression of specific functional genes encoding extracellular enzymes. Because of the enormous diversity, redundancy, and genomic plasticity present in fungi, it is unclear to what extent variation in microbial taxonomic composition affects leaf decomposition. The hypothesis that fungal traits associated with leaf decomposition can be regulated independent of the particular fungal taxa present on a leaf will also be tested.This project will train undergraduates, graduate students, and laboratory technicians in the fields of forest and fungal ecology, contributing to the development of future scientific workforce. It will provide undergraduates with research opportunities that are individualized, but which are also fundamentally integrated into larger research goals. The undergraduate program will involve mentoring and supporting coursework designed specifically to complement the research being performed. This will provide students with a research experience that will prepare them for graduate school and careers in science.