Modernization of Research Laboratory Space at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). The project involves the renovation of an existing biological field station through the construction of a new laboratory building to replace the facilities currently provided by two existing buildings, the Murray Lab, a pre-fabricated log structure, and the Willey Lab. It will be more cost-effective to construct a replacement building than to refurbish the existing structures. The new building will provide the same amount of research space as is present in the two buildings being replaced.The Rocky Mountain Biological Lab is an independent, non-profit research organization that mainly consists of a biological field station in Gothic, Colorado. RMBL manages 1300 acres of private land and has a permit for scientists to work in the millions of acres of adjacent public lands. In 2009, 33 tenure-track scientists (or equivalent), four postdoctoral scientists, 18 graduate students, one technician, three teachers, and 60 undergraduate researchers used the laboratory spaces that will be upgraded by this project. Examples of the type of research projects that will benefit from the renovation include: the role in cloud formation of aerosols emitted directly and indirectly by plants; how abiotic and biotic factors, such as nitrogen cycling in soils, interact to affect ecosystem structure and function and how natural disturbances and anthropogenic impacts such as climate change, species invasions, and herbivory shape these interactions; studies of biological responses to climate change, such as how plant and animal phenology, abundance, and climate are interrelated at a single site, whether the relationship between plant flowering dates and snowmelt is changing over time, and how montane communities respond to climate change; whether endosymbionts (fungi) increase host (non-native grass species) abundance and the mechanisms by which they affect host abundance; and the degree to which the diatom Didymosphenia geminata, which is blooming around the world, is causing a regime shift in the ecosystem structure and functioning of streams.The facility to be renovated provides research infrastructure that supports scientists from a diverse range of institutions. Its research season provides research training for a significant number of undergraduate and graduate students. RMBL has a strong relationship with an Hispanic-serving community college that helps bring community college students into RMBL programs.