RAPID: Collaborative Research: Do negative plant-soil feedbacks outweigh positive ectomycorrhizal mutualisms in dipterocarp rainforest?

RAPID：合作研究：龙脑香科雨林中植物-土壤负反馈是否超过外生菌根正反馈？

• 批准号: 1361171
• 负责人: Kabir Peay
• 金额: $ 12.78万
• 依托单位: Stanford University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2013-11-15 至 2015-10-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1361171&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: RAPID; Collaborative; Research; Do; negative

High tree species diversity is a characteristic feature of rainforests in South America, Africa and Southeast Asia. However, it continues to be difficult for ecologists to explain how such a large number of species can be different enough to coexist when they all use the same small set of resources (light, water, nutrients). Theoretically, only a few dominant competitors should persist. One hypothesis explaining this conundrum is that soil fungi cause seedlings to die as tree populations grow, thus preventing any one species from becoming much more common than any other species. Current research on this topic is promising but has two primary shortcomings. First, it has largely been limited to Central and South American rainforests, despite fundamental differences in soil fungi around the world. Second, it has not considered that some soil fungi benefit, not harm, seedlings. In this project, investigators will take advantage of a rare mass seeding event in Malaysian Borneo to establish experiments that will test hypotheses about positive plant-fungal interactions in this ecologically under-explored part of the world. The work has great potential to lead to new insights into the ecological processes that shape the astounding diversity of tropical rain forests. In addition to improving our ecological understanding of the maintenance of tropical biodiversity, the insights gained through this research will help conserve the critically endangered rainforest ecosystems of Southeast Asia. Although these rainforests harbor a major share of global biodiversity and play a critical role in the function of the global biosphere, the region is experiencing alarming rates of deforestation. By studying the factors that impact seedling recruitment, this research will provide important knowledge required for successful reforestation and restoration of degraded forests. In addition, the study will shed light on the little known and potentially at risk microbial dimensions of biodiversity in these rainforests. Finally, this work will provide invaluable training for graduate students at US universities to work in a very complex ecosystem and increase US capacity to engage in these ecosystems.

高树种多样性是南美洲、非洲和东南亚热带雨林的一个特征。然而，生态学家仍然很难解释为什么这么多的物种在使用相同的一小部分资源（光、水、营养）时会有足够的差异而共存。从理论上讲，只有少数占主导地位的竞争对手才能坚持下去。一个解释这个难题的假设是，土壤真菌导致树苗随着树木种群的增长而死亡，从而阻止任何一个物种变得比任何其他物种更常见。目前关于这一主题的研究很有希望，但有两个主要缺点。首先，尽管世界各地的土壤真菌存在根本差异，但它在很大程度上仅限于中美洲和南美洲的雨林。 其次，它没有考虑到一些土壤真菌对幼苗有益，而不是有害。在这个项目中，研究人员将利用马来西亚婆罗洲一次罕见的大规模播种事件来建立实验，以测试关于世界上这个生态欠开发地区的植物-真菌相互作用的假设。这项工作有很大的潜力，导致对生态过程的新见解，塑造了惊人的热带雨林的多样性。除了提高我们对维护热带生物多样性的生态理解外，通过这项研究获得的见解将有助于保护东南亚极度濒危的雨林生态系统。虽然这些雨林拥有全球生物多样性的主要份额，并在全球生物圈的功能中发挥关键作用，但该地区正在经历令人震惊的森林砍伐速度。通过研究影响幼苗补充的因素，这项研究将为成功地重新造林和恢复退化的森林提供所需的重要知识。此外，该研究将揭示这些雨林生物多样性中鲜为人知且可能面临风险的微生物方面。最后，这项工作将为美国大学的研究生提供宝贵的培训，使他们能够在非常复杂的生态系统中工作，并提高美国参与这些生态系统的能力。