Collaborative Research: Testing a Mechanism for the Productivity-Beta Diversity Relationship in Plants

合作研究：测试植物生产力-β多样性关系的机制

• 批准号: 0947432
• 负责人: Ellen Damschen
• 金额: $ 12.72万
• 依托单位: University of Wisconsin-Madison
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-09-01 至 2015-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0947432&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Testing; Mechanism; Productivity

Intellectual merit: Globally, the diversity of plants and animals is highest in regions where rainfall and solar energy are abundant, which yields high rates of carbon capture via photosynthesis termed primary productivity. This project will analyze a previously unexamined aspect of this pattern, namely, how productivity affects the degree to which plants are specialized on different soils, which can drive the variation in species composition among different locations. In productive climates, this project will test the hypothesis that plant communities on different soils will be highly distinct because intensified competition leads to narrower soil niches, whereas in colder or more arid climates less distinctiveness of plant communities across soil boundaries is predicted. These predictions will be tested by comparing plant communities on chemically unusual soils such as serpentine, limestone, and dolomite, to those on nearby normal soils, across gradients of high to low rainfall in California and the Ozarks. To better understand the mechanisms for the observed patterns, experimental manipulations of rainfall and plant competition in neighboring serpentine and non-serpentine plant communities in California will be conducted. This research is important because plant species and communities endemic to particular soils are important contributors to global botanical diversity. Our results will help understand how climate controls plant diversity, plant community composition, and the degree to which plant communities are affected by biological invasions. Broader impacts: A graduate student from an underrepresented group and several undergraduates will be trained with this award. Data will be made available to researchers, agency scientists, and nonprofit environmental groups through the data archives of the Knowledge Network for Biocomplexity (knb.ecoinformatics.org) and the UC Natural Reserve System Data Registry.

智力价值：在全球范围内，降雨量和太阳能丰富的地区动植物多样性最高，通过光合作用（称为初级生产力）产生高碳捕获率。该项目将分析这种模式之前未经检验的一个方面，即生产力如何影响植物在不同土壤上的特化程度，这可以驱动不同地点之间物种组成的变化。在生产力高的气候下，该项目将检验这样的假设：不同土壤上的植物群落将具有高度的差异性，因为竞争加剧导致土壤生态位缩小，而在寒冷或干旱的气候下，预计跨土壤边界的植物群落的独特性会降低。这些预测将通过比较化学上不寻常的土壤（如蛇纹石、石灰石和白云石）上的植物群落与附近正常土壤上的植物群落（在加利福尼亚州和奥沙克地区的降雨量从高到低的梯度上）进行检验。为了更好地了解观察到的模式的机制，将在加利福尼亚州邻近的蛇纹石和非蛇纹石植物群落中进行降雨和植物竞争的实验操作。这项研究很重要，因为特定土壤特有的植物物种和群落是全球植物多样性的重要贡献者。我们的结果将有助于了解气候如何控制植物多样性、植物群落组成以及植物群落受生物入侵影响的程度。更广泛的影响：来自代表性不足群体的一名研究生和几名本科生将接受该奖项的培训。数据将通过生物复杂性知识网络 (knb.ecoinformatics.org) 和加州大学自然保护区系统数据注册表的数据档案提供给研究人员、机构科学家和非营利环境团体。