Collaborative Research: The Role of Glacial History on the Structure and Functioning of Ecological Communities in the Shackleton Glacier Region of the Transantarctic Mountains

合作研究：冰川历史对横贯南极山脉沙克尔顿冰川地区生态群落结构和功能的作用

• 批准号: 1341629
• 负责人: Noah Fierer
• 金额: $ 27.58万
• 依托单位: University of Colorado at Boulder
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-09-01 至 2020-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1341629&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Role; Glacial; History

The project will characterize the functional, taxonomic, biotic and abiotic drivers of soil ecosystems in the Trans Antarctic Mountains (one of the most remote and harsh terrestrial landscapes on the planet). The work will utilize new high-throughput DNA and RNA sequencing technologies to identify members of the microbial communities and determine if the microbial community structures are independent of local environmental heterogeneities. In addition the project will determine if microbial diversity and function are correlated with time since the last glacial maximum (LGM). The expected results will greatly contribute to our knowledge regarding rates of microbial succession and help define the some of the limits to life and life-maintaining processes on Earth.The project will analyze genomes and RNA derived from these genomes to describe the relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning from soils above and below LGM elevations and to correlate these with the environmental drivers associated with their development during the last ~18,000 years. The team will identify the taxonomic diversity and the functional genetic composition within a broad suite of soil biota and examine their patterns of assembly and distribution within the framework of their geological legacies. The project will mentor participants from undergraduate students to postdoctoral researchers and prepare them to effectively engage in research to meet their career aspirations. The project will contribute to ongoing public education efforts through relationships with K-12 teachers and administrators- to include University-Public School partnerships. Less formal activities include public lecture series and weblogs aimed at providing information on Antarctic polar desert ecosystems to the general public. Targeted classrooms near each PI's institution will participate in online, real-time discussions about current topics in Antarctic ecosystems research.

该项目将表征南极山区土壤生态系统的功能，分类，生物和非生物驱动因素（地球上最偏远，最苛刻的陆地景观之一）。 这项工作将利用新的高通量DNA和RNA测序技术来识别微生物群落的成员，并确定微生物群落结构是否与局部环境异质性无关。 此外，该项目将确定自上次冰川最大值（LGM）以来的微生物多样性和功能是否与时间相关。 预期的结果将极大地有助于我们关于微生物继承率的知识，并有助于定义地球上生命和生命维护过程的某些局限性。该项目将分析这些基因组的基因组和RNA，以描述生物多样性和生态系统之间的关系与在LGM上方和下方的土壤中与环境的发展相关，以使其在环境方面的发展相关。该团队将在广泛的土壤生物群体中确定分类多样性和功能遗传组成，并检查其在地质遗产框架内的组装和分布模式。该项目将指导本科生到博士后研究人员的参与者，并为他们做好准备，以有效地进行研究以满足他们的职业愿望。该项目将通过与K-12教师和行政人员的关系为正在进行的公共教育工作做出贡献 - 包括大学公立学校合作伙伴关系。较少的正式活动包括公开演讲系列和旨在向公众提供有关南极荒漠生态系统的信息的博客。每个PI机构附近的有针对性教室将参与有关南极生态系统研究当前主题的在线实时讨论。