Phytoplankton Traits, Functional Groups and Community Organization: A Synthesis

浮游植物占全球初级生产力的一半，其生物量和群落组成显著影响全球碳和其他生物地球化学循环和生态系统功能。解释浮游植物群的全球分布模式和预测浮游植物群落在人为环境变化下如何重组，需要了解定义浮游植物物种生态位的各种生态生理特征。在这个项目中，研究人员将建立一个基于查询的不同浮游植物特征数据库，如细胞/菌落大小、生长速度、资源获取和捕食者躲避特征等。将包括所有可用物种和品系的数据。他们将使用数据库来回答浮游植物生态学中的基本问题，例如：1)哪些性状表现出权衡（成对或超越），它们是什么形状？2)哪些性状与细胞/身体大小呈异速增长？从第一性原理可以预测缩放指数吗？作为一种简化真实生物体特征的复杂性状空间的方法，异速缩放的潜在限制是什么？3)浮游植物的主要功能/分类类群之间的性状差异是什么？分类/系统发育对特定功能性状的限制有多大？4)海洋种群和淡水种群在性状分布上是否存在差异？研究人员还将使用数据库参数化浮游植物群落组织和进化的新模型，该模型基于自适应动力学方法。他们将使用这些模型来探索在给定生理约束和生态相互作用的不同环境情景下，群落结构是如何出现的。元素化学计量、大小结构和官能团分布在不同时空尺度上的变化也将被研究。该项目的广泛影响将使科学界受益，并提供广泛的教育经验。研究人员将建立一个包含各种浮游植物特征的数据库，该数据库将提供给广泛的科学界。该数据库将用于参数化浮游植物功能群模型，探索不同环境条件下（包括全球变化情景下）浮游植物群落组织机制。通过应用一般生态学原理和新的生态信息学和建模工具来回答关于浮游植物群落和生物海洋学的基本问题，该项目将跨越跨学科的界限，因此应该促进我们对水生生态系统功能的理解。该项目包括培养一名研究生和一名博士后的机会。此外，将邀请当地学校的教师在夏季与调查人员一起开发以探究为基础的浮游植物生态学和全球变化教育模块，其中将包括该项目的研究结果。这个项目的成果将通过包括生态、海洋学和生物地球化学领域的各种期刊的出版物加以传播。

Phytoplankton account for half of global primary productivity and their biomass and community composition significantly impact global carbon and other biogeochemical cycles and ecosystem functioning. Explaining patterns of global distributions of phytoplankton groups and predicting how phytoplankton communities will re-organize under anthropogenic environmental change requires knowledge of diverse eco-physiological traits defining ecological niches of phytoplankton species. In this project, the investigators will assemble a query-based database of diverse phytoplankton traits such as cell/colony size, growth rates, resource acquisition and predator avoidance traits, among others. Data for all available species and strains will be included. They will use the database to answer fundamental questions in phytoplankton ecology such as: 1) what traits exhibit trade-offs (pairwise and beyond) and what shapes are they? 2) What traits scale allometrically with cell/body size? Can scaling exponents from first principles be predicted? What are potential limits to allometric scaling as a way of simplifying the complex trait space that characterizes real organisms? 3) What are trait differences among major functional/taxonomic groups of phytoplankton and how much does taxonomy/phylogeny constrain particular functional traits? 4) Are there differences in trait distributions between marine and freshwater groups? The investigators will also use the database to parameterize novel models of phytoplankton community organization and evolution based on adaptive dynamics approaches. They will use the models to explore how community structure emerges under different environmental scenarios, given physiological constraints and ecological interactions. Changes in elemental stoichiometry, size structure and functional group distributions at different spatial and temporal scales will also be examined. The broader impacts of the project will benefit the scientific community as well as provide broad educational experiences. The investigators will produce a database of a diverse set of phytoplankton traits that will be made available to the wide scientific community. The database will be used to parameterize models of phytoplankton functional groups and explore mechanisms of community organization under different environmental conditions, including global change scenarios. By applying general ecological principles and novel ecoinformatics and modeling tools to answer fundamental questions about phytoplankton communities and biological oceanography, this project will span the interdisciplinary boundaries and should, therefore, advance our understanding of aquatic ecosystem functioning. The project includes training opportunties for a graduate student and a postdoc. In addition, teachers from local schools will be invited to work with the investigators in the summer to develop inquiry-based educational modules on phytoplankton ecology and global change that will include findings from this project. The results of this project will be disseminated through publications in a wide range of journals covering ecological, oceanographic and biogeochemical fields.