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

该项目将描述横贯南极山脉(地球上最偏远和最恶劣的陆地景观之一)土壤生态系统的功能、分类、生物和非生物驱动因素。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独立于当地环境的异质性。此外，该项目还将确定微生物多样性和功能是否与上次冰川高峰期(LGM)以来的时间相关。预期的结果将极大地帮助我们了解微生物演替的速度，并有助于定义地球上生命和生命维持过程的一些限制。该项目将分析从这些基因组中提取的基因组和RNA，以描述生物多样性与低海拔和低海拔土壤生态系统功能之间的关系，并将这些关系与过去18,000年来与其发展相关的环境驱动因素相关联。该小组将在广泛的土壤生物群中确定分类多样性和功能遗传组成，并在其地质遗产的框架内检查它们的组装和分布模式。该项目将指导从本科生到博士后研究人员的参与者，并为他们有效地从事研究以满足他们的职业抱负做好准备。该项目将通过与K-12教师和管理人员的关系，包括大学与公立学校的伙伴关系，为正在进行的公共教育努力作出贡献。不太正式的活动包括旨在向公众提供有关南极极地沙漠生态系统的信息的公开系列讲座和网络博客。每个PI机构附近的目标教室将参与关于南极生态系统研究当前主题的在线实时讨论。

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.