Collaborative Research: MSB: Links Between Soil Biogeochemistry and Microbial Community Dynamics Along Recently Deglaciated Chronosequences

研究冰川消退形成的景观中植物群落如何聚集和迁移，是发展养分循环、生物相互作用和面对环境变化的群落动态的理论基础不可或缺的一部分。事实上，这些“年轻”（从地质学角度来说）系统的相对简单揭示了生态系统结构和功能的模式，这些模式通常也适用于更古老、更复杂的环境。尽管土壤微生物调节着具有区域到全球重要性的养分循环反应，但对这些群落如何聚集在一起并随时间变化却没有类似的理解。这项工作将解决三个假设，这些假设与三个地理、地质和气候不同的地点（阿拉斯加、秘鲁和蒙大拿州）新冰川消融地点的微生物群落结构和土壤营养状况有关。一系列技术，包括新开发的高通量DNA测序和生物信息学方法、微生物过程测量和现场操作，将在三个不同的地点复制，旨在揭示控制早期微生物群落发展的广泛适用模式。该项目将支持三名研究生和两名本科生，包括扩大阿拉斯加东南大学（University of Alaska, Southeast）阿拉斯加原住民的参与。此外，生态系统科学学习将扩展到一所高中，为“面临风险”的学生和来自科学领域代表性不足群体的学生提供服务，通过开发一门新课程，利用最近冰川消融的土壤作为模型系统，让学生了解营养循环和生物多样性之间的关系。动物园还将与门登霍尔游客中心的美国林务局工作人员密切合作，将该项目的成果纳入解说节目和展示。

Studies of how plant communities assemble and shift on landscapes created by receding glaciers have been integral in developing the theoretical bases of nutrient cycling, organismal interactions, and community dynamics in the face of environmental change. Indeed, the relative simplicity of these 'young' (geologically speaking) systems has revealed patterns in ecosystem structure and function that often also apply across a wide range of older, more complex environments. Although soil microorganisms regulate nutrient cycling reactions with regional to global importance, there is no parallel understanding of how these communities come together and change through time. This work will address three hypotheses which relate microbial community structure and soil nutrient status across newly deglaciated sites in three geographically, geologically and climatically disparate locations (Alaska, Peru and Montana). An array of techniques, including newly developed methods in high-throughput DNA sequencing and bioinformatics, microbial process measurements, and field manipulations will be replicated at the three different sites, and are designed to reveal broadly applicable patterns that govern early microbial community development. The project will support three graduate and two undergraduate students, including broadening participation from Native Alaskans at the University of Alaska, Southeast. Additionally, ecosystem science learning will be extended to a high school that serves "at risk" students, and students from underrepresented groups in science, by developing a new course using recently deglaciated soils as model systems for students to understand the relationships between nutrient cycling and biodiversity. The PIs will also work closely with the United States Forest Service staff at the Mendenhall Visitor Center to integrate the results of this project into interpretive programs and displays.