Collaborative Research: Relative Controls of Niche vs. Neutral Microbial Community Assembly Processes Over Ecosystem Function Post-Disturbance

为了理解和预测生态系统过程，有必要知道系统中存在什么类型的微生物吗？这是一个基本的，但没有答案的问题。该项目将解决关于社区聚集过程、环境参数和生态系统功能之间关系的假设。对森林火灾后不同时间土壤微生物群落结构和功能进行跟踪研究。系统发育和基因组学方法将被用来探索控制微生物群落如何发展的因素，以及不同的控制在微生物群落结构中的相对作用。这项工作还将侧重于描述野火后观测到的氮循环变化的时间和空间动态。本研究有望更好地了解微生物群落结构对这些重要土壤过程的贡献。这项研究将重点关注在美国西部火灾频率和严重程度不断升级的情况下，土壤群落如何从燃烧中恢复过来。该项目还将促进新的生物信息学方法的发展和完善，以分析研究复杂微生物群落动态所需的大型数据集。更广泛的影响包括培养研究生和博士后学者，以及开发一门将本科生直接纳入计划研究的课程。此外，将在当地一所高危学生比例很高的高中开展外展活动。

Is it necessary to know what types of microbes are present in a system in order to understand and predict ecosystem processes? This is a fundamental, yet unanswered, question. This project will address hypotheses regarding the relationship between community assembly processes, environmental parameters and ecosystem functioning following a disturbance. Soil microbial community structure and function will be tracked in soils at various times after forest fires. Phylogenetic and genomic approaches will be employed to explore the factors controlling how microbial communities develop, and the relative roles of different controls in structuring microbial communities. This work will also focus on describing the temporal and spatial dynamics of the well-documented changes in nitrogen cycling that are observed following wildfires. This research is expected to build a better understanding of the contributions of microbial community structuring to these important soil processes. This study will focus on how soil communities recover from burning at a time when fire frequency and severity are escalating across the American West. The project will also facilitate the development and refinement of new bioinformatics approaches to analyze the large data sets required to study the dynamics of complex microbial communities. Broader impacts include the training of graduate students and a post-doctoral scholar, and the development of a course to integrate undergraduates directly into the planned research. Additionally, outreach will be conducted at a local high school with a high proportion of at-risk students.