Quantifying plant-soil feedback effects in classic diversity-productivity experiments

大量研究表明，植物和土壤之间的双向相互作用，即植物-土壤反馈，对植物物种的丰度和分布有重大影响，而土壤细菌和真菌是主要原因。该项目将对这些重要假设进行大规模测试。植物-土壤反馈将在大量的植物物种中进行测量，并在植物多样性和生产力方面进行长期实验。合并后的数据将用于构建将反馈与生产力联系起来的模型。相关的遗传学研究将有助于确定驱动反馈的特定微生物。该项目更广泛的影响包括对学生的广泛培训和对K-12教育的推广，以及对农业的明确应用。该项目计划培养多名本科生，两名博士生。学生，以及众多的高中生。这项研究与粮食生产和粮食安全有关，因为它有望确定关键的有益和有害微生物，从而提高我们对土壤微生物如何用于管理作物生长的理解。

A large of body of research suggests that two-way interactions between plants and soils, known as plant-soil feedbacks, have major effects on the abundance and distribution of plant species, and that soil bacteria and fungi are largely responsible. This project will provide a large-scale test of these important hypotheses. Plant-soil feedbacks will be measured in a large set of plant species at sites with ongoing, long-term experiments on plant diversity and productivity. The combined data will be used to construct models that relate feedbacks to productivity. Linked genetic studies will help identify the specific microbes that drive feedbacks. The broader impacts of the project include extensive training of students and outreach to K-12 education, and clear applications to agriculture. The project plans to train many undergraduate students, two Ph.D. students, and numerous high school students. The research has relevance to food production and food security because it is expected to identify key beneficial and harmful microbes and thus improve our understanding of how soil microbes can be used to manage crop growth.