PIRE: Hydrologic Redistribution and Rhizosphere Biology of Resource Islands in Degraded Agroecosystems of the Sahel

PIRE：萨赫勒地区退化农业生态系统资源岛的水文再分配和根际生物学

• 批准号: 0968247
• 负责人: Richard Dick
• 金额: $ 240.09万
• 依托单位: Ohio State University
• 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: 2010-10-01 至 2018-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0968247&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: PIRE; Hydrologic; Redistribution; Rhizosphere; Biology

This PIRE project will enable a partnership of U.S., Senegalese, and French researchers and students to examine how native shrubs of the Sahel region influence soil moisture and soil microbial composition and how such shrubs, when planted with food crops, might represent a new biologically-based way to improve production in semi-arid agroecosystems. The vulnerable environment of the Sahel is threatened by desertification and soil degradation, seriously reducing agricultural productivity and negatively impacting local communities. In the Sahel, woody shrubs co-exist with row crops and are cut back and burned every spring. The team's previous research on the two dominant shrub species of the Sahel, Guiera senegalensis and Piliostigma reticulatum, documented their ability to draw water from wet sub-surface soil to dry surface soil and to grow unique microbial communities around their roots. The PIRE team will examine whether the hydraulic lifting of water by shrubs can reduce water stress to nearby crops during dry periods and whether the shrubs' root-zone microbial communities stimulate adjacent crop growth, for example by enhancing nitrogen fixation. They will also test the potential of these shrubs to sequester carbon in their roots zones and to improve soils more than manure, composts, or planting other trees. This team's fundamental hydrologic and soil microbiology research should provide the information needed to develop of a set of shrub-crop systems that reduces drought effects and optimizes plant growth via microbial enhancement. Such agricultural systems could restore currently degraded landscapes and lead to sustainable agroecosystems in the Sahel. These outcomes could benefit all countries in the Sahel which together have almost 15 million hectares (60,000 square miles) of semi-arid land that are largely now farmed with destructive agricultural practices. The PIRE interdisciplinary and international research team brings together the requisite expertise in molecular microbiology, hydrology, soil physics, plant ecology and agronomy to undertake and complete this important real-world project. The educational impacts of this PIRE project include strengthening the existing long-term partnerships among scientists committed to mentoring and training an international cadre of students. This project will deliver a program of transformative cross-cultural, language building, and international research experiences by: 1) providing U.S. undergraduates summer research internships in Africa; 2) enabling U.S. Ph.D. students to conduct their dissertation research in Africa; 3) engaging U.S. students in public outreach about their international experiences -- at local schools, in a "pen pal" program between U.S. and Senegalese schoolchildren, and via a student blog on the PIRE website; 4) training U.S. early career scientists and Ph.D.s in tropical microbial ecology and hydrology through the MicroTrop training program and; 5) exposing all participants to the ecological challenges of the Sahel within a rural poverty context. The active participation of faculty and students from Central State University, a Historically Black University, will help this PIRE project meet its goal to enhance the recruitment of females and underrepresented minorities in science. An important outcome of the PIRE activities will be the participants' shared experiences that will inevitably produce lifelong interactions and international linkages. The project will strengthen the capacity of the U.S. institutions to internationalize their research, scientific networks, student training, and curricula. The PIRE project will link and reinforce the complementary strengths of many units (e.g., international affairs, African studies offices, international agriculture programs, and language departments) both within and between Ohio State and Central State Universities to develop a cohesive program for pre-departure cultural orientation, language training, and logistical support for PIRE participants. The comprehensive educational and research effort of this PIRE project will be a model for U.S. universities to conduct state-of-the art environmental research in a developing country within a natural resource and rural poverty context. The PIRE project funds will also be leveraged with other funding for additional outreach and application of results in Africa. For example, the PI and his institution will conduct a US Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded project developing an Agroecology Degree Program at the University of Gaston Berger (UGB) in Senegal, including E-education and distance learning collaborations. The PIRE team and its research and education efforts will enrich the content of the USAID education project and complement USAID's initiative on Food Security for Africa.U.S. institutions include: Ohio State University at Columbus and at Wooster; University of California at Merced; USDA-Agricultural Research Service (ARS) at Oregon State University; and Central State University (OH). Foreign partners include: University of Thies (Senegal); Institut Sénégalais de Recherches Agricoles (ISRA) (Senegal); Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD) (France); IRD Laboratory of Tropical Microbial Ecology (LTME) (Senegal); and IRD Laboratoire Commun de Microbiologie (France).This project is cofunded by NSF's Office of International Science and Engineering and the Division of Environmental Biology.

该 PIRE 项目将使美国、塞内加尔和法国的研究人员和学生能够合作，研究萨赫勒地区的原生灌木如何影响土壤湿度和土壤微生物组成，以及这些灌木在与粮食作物一起种植时如何代表一种新的基于生物学的方法来提高半干旱农业生态系统的产量。萨赫勒地区脆弱的环境受到荒漠化和土壤退化的威胁，严重降低了农业生产力，给当地社区带来了负面影响。在萨赫勒地区，木本灌木与中耕作物共存，每年春天都会被砍伐和焚烧。该团队之前对萨赫勒地区的两种主要灌木物种——塞内加尔吉拉（Guiera senegalensis）和网毛毛（Piliostigma reticulatum）进行了研究，记录了它们将水分从潮湿的地下土壤吸到干燥的表层土壤并在其根部周围生长独特的微生物群落的能力。 PIRE 团队将研究灌木的水力提升是否可以减少干旱期间对附近作物的水分压力，以及灌木根区微生物群落是否刺激邻近作物的生长，例如通过增强固氮作用。他们还将测试这些灌木在根部固碳的潜力，以及比施肥、堆肥或种植其他树木更能改善土壤的潜力。该团队的基础水文和土壤微生物学研究应提供开发一套灌木作物系统所需的信息，该系统可减少干旱影响并通过微生物增强优化植物生长。这种农业系统可以恢复目前退化的景观，并在萨赫勒地区建立可持续的农业生态系统。这些成果可能使萨赫勒地区的所有国家受益，这些国家总共拥有近 1,500 万公顷（60,000 平方英里）的半干旱土地，这些土地目前大部分采用破坏性农业做法进行耕种。 PIRE 跨学科和国际研究团队汇集了分子微生物学、水文学、土壤物理学、植物生态学和农学方面必要的专业知识，以承担并完成这一重要的现实项目。该 PIRE 项目的教育影响包括加强致力于指导和培训国际学生骨干的科学家之间现有的长期合作伙伴关系。该项目将通过以下方式提供变革性的跨文化、语言建设和国际研究经验计划：1）为美国本科生提供在非洲的暑期研究实习机会； 2) 获得美国博士学位学生在非洲进行论文研究； 3) 让美国学生参与公开宣传他们的国际经历——在当地学校、美国和塞内加尔学童之间的“笔友”项目以及通过 PIRE 网站上的学生博客； 4) 通过 MicroTrop 培训计划培训美国热带微生物生态学和水文学领域的早期职业科学家和博士学位； 5) 让所有参与者面临萨赫勒地区农村贫困背景下的生态挑战。中央州立大学（历史悠久的黑人大学）的教职员工和学生的积极参与将帮助该 PIRE 项目实现其目标，即增加科学领域女性和代表性不足的少数族裔的招募。 PIRE 活动的一个重要成果将是参与者分享经验，这将不可避免地产生终生互动和国际联系。该项目将加强美国机构的研究、科学网络、学生培训和课程国际化的能力。 PIRE 项目将联系并加强俄亥俄州立大学和中央州立大学内部和之间的许多单位（例如国际事务、非洲研究办公室、国际农业项目和语言部门）的互补优势，为 PIRE 参与者制定行前文化导向、语言培训和后勤支持的有凝聚力的计划。该 PIRE 项目的综合教育和研究工作将为美国大学在发展中国家的自然资源和农村贫困背景下开展最先进的环境研究树立典范。 PIRE 项目资金还将与其他资金相结合，用于非洲的更多推广和成果应用。例如，项目负责人和他的机构将开展一个由美国国际开发署 (USAID) 资助的项目，在塞内加尔加斯顿伯杰大学 (UGB) 开发农业生态学学位课程，包括电子教育和远程学习合作。 PIRE 团队及其研究和教育工作将丰富美国国际开发署教育项目的内容，并补充美国国际开发署的非洲粮食安全倡议。机构包括：俄亥俄州立大学哥伦布分校和伍斯特分校；加州大学默塞德分校；俄勒冈州立大学美国农业部农业研究服务处 (ARS)；和中央州立大学（俄亥俄州）。外国合作伙伴包括：蒂斯大学（塞内加尔）；塞内加尔农业研究所（ISRA）（塞内加尔）；发展研究所（IRD）（法国）； IRD 热带微生物生态学实验室 (LTME)（塞内加尔）；和 IRD Laboratoire Commun de Microbiologie（法国）。该项目由 NSF 国际科学与工程办公室和环境生物学部共同资助。