Collaborative Research: Controls over C sequestration: physiology vs. physics

由于二氧化碳在温室效应和气候变化中的作用，了解全球碳循环是生态系统科学面临的一个中心问题。土壤是地球上有机碳的主要储存地之一，土壤中的有机碳含量比生长在土壤上的所有植物都多。本项目旨在通过评估调节微生物获得碳的物理过程（扩散解吸），以及它们如何利用碳制造酶来获得额外的资源，并改变它们的直接环境，从而更好地了解碳螯合作用。这项工作的一个主要重点将是探索这些过程如何受到土壤水分和干旱的影响。该研究将在加州的塞奇威克保护区进行，并将使用田间实验来操纵植物输入新鲜碳和水的输入，实验室研究来评估控制过程中涉及的特定机制，以及数学建模来将这些细尺度机制与大尺度动态联系起来。该项目将有助于培养跨学科的研究生研究人员，并将涉及本科生，把他们带进研究环境。对于公众宣传，该项目将依靠塞奇威克保护区？的公共教育中心。研究人员已经开发了关于土壤，土壤研究及其对社会的重要性的演示文稿。他们将更新这些信息从这个项目，并与讲解员在他们的教育计划中使用。研究小组的成员将继续他们的活动，指导K-12学生的计划，如他们的“土壤的活着！“为当地圣伊内斯山谷联合高中区的10年级学生演示土壤生态，

Understanding the global carbon cycle is a central issue facing ecosystem science because of carbon dioxide's (CO2) role in the greenhouse effect and climate change. One of the main stores of organic carbon on Earth is in soil, which contains more organic carbon than all the plants growing upon it. This project aims to better understand C-sequestration by evaluating the physical processes (diffusion & desorption) that regulate microorganisms' access to C, and how they use that C to make enzymes to acquire additional resources, and modify their immediate environment. A major focus of the work will be to explore how these processes are influenced by soil moisture and drought. The research will be done at the Sedgwick Reserve in California, and will use a combination of field experiments to manipulate plant inputs of fresh carbon and water inputs, laboratory studies to evaluate specific mechanisms involved in controlling the processes, and mathematical modeling to relate these fine-scale mechanisms to larger-scale dynamics.This project will help train interdisciplinary graduate student researchers, and will involve undergraduate students, bringing them into the research environment. For public outreach, the project will rely on Sedgwick Reserve?s center for public education. The investigators have developed presentations about soils, soil research, and their importance to society. They will update these with information from this project, and work with the docents to use in their educational programs. Members of the research team will continue their activities mentoring K-12 students with programs such as their "Soil's Alive!" demonstration of soil ecology for 10th graders from the local Santa Ynez Valley Union High School District,