Collaborative Research: Interactive Effects of Climate, Ecosystem Engineering, and Trophic Interactions on Grassland Community Dynamics

合作研究：气候、生态系统工程和营养相互作用对草原群落动态的相互作用

• 批准号: 1355055
• 负责人: Katharine Suding
• 金额: $ 17.48万
• 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: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-04-01 至 2018-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1355055&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Interactive; Effects; Climate

Predicting the effects of climate change on ecological systems is complicated by the many separate and interacting ways in which climate can affect the different species and processes in the same place. This project will investigate the multiple effects of a decrease in annual precipitation in desert grassland in California where burrowing, seed-eating mammals strongly affect soil nutrients, soil moisture, and seed dispersal by plants, and where introduced plant species compete with native ones. Researchers will exclude mammals, intercept or add rainfall, and measure effects on populations of mammals, plants, and invertebrates and on nutrient levels over four years. This unusual opportunity to experimentally test multiple, complex effects of climate in a natural system will advance our basic understanding of the ecological consequences of climate change.The broader impacts of this project include development of the workforce for science likely including underrepresented groups, outreach to the public, and applications to the conservation of biodiversity and the management of natural areas. The project will train a postdoctoral researcher, a graduate student, and three research technicians. Work with two local organizations will promote public science education and volunteering. Findings will inform management of the Carrizo Plain, the last major remnant of a major type of grassland in California and a refuge for endangered species.

通过许多独立的相互作用的方式，气候可以影响同一地点的不同物种和过程的许多独立且相互作用的方式，预测气候变化对生态系统的影响变得复杂。该项目将调查加利福尼亚州沙漠草原的年降水量减少的多重影响，在那里，挖洞，饮食哺乳动物强烈影响土壤养分，土壤水分和植物分散的种子，以及引入植物物种与本土竞争。研究人员将排除哺乳动物，拦截或增加降雨，并在四年内对哺乳动物，植物和无脊椎动物的种群以及对营养水平的衡量影响。这种实验测试气候在自然系统中的多种复杂影响的不寻常的机会将提高我们对气候变化的生态后果的基本理解。该项目的更广泛的影响包括为科学发展的劳动力发展，包括代表性不足的群体，向公众推广，以及对生物多样性和自然区域管理的应用。该项目将培训一名博士后研究人员，研究生和三位研究技术人员。与两个本地组织合作将促进公共科学教育和志愿服务。调查结果将为Carrizo Plain的管理提供信息，Carrizo Plain是加利福尼亚州主要草地的最后一个主要残余物，也是濒危物种的避难所。