EAPSI:Assessing Seed Dispersal Limitation as a Cause of Abrupt Treelines in New Zealand

EAPSI：评估种子传播限制是新西兰林线突变的原因

• 批准号: 1514659
• 负责人: Jeremy Johnson
• 金额: $ 0.51万
• 依托单位: Johnson Jeremy S
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Fellowship Award
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2015-06-01 至 2016-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1514659&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: EAPSI; Assessing; Seed; Dispersal; Limitation

This research will identify if seed dispersal at New Zealand alpine treelines is limited and a cause of their abrupt and striking form. The abrupt alpine treeline in New Zealand is a system that has experienced warming over the last 50 years without a corresponding change in alpine treeline position. In a closely linked vegetation-climate system, we would expect that the treeline should track climate relatively closely over periods as short as a decade. Unlike animals that can respond quickly to changing environmental conditions, plants are fixed in space and must respond inter-generationally through seed dispersal. This research will address the issue by 1) characterizing gene flow at mountain beech treelines and 2) assessing the degree to which the treeline is dispersal limited resulting in their abrupt form. The research will analyze genomic data allowing the researchers to dissect genetic similarity between treeline forming individuals and forest individuals below, teasing apart the ecological factors influencing dispersal and the potential for treelines to track future climate variation. This research will be conducted in collaboration with New Zealand researchers Dr. Brad Case at Lincoln University and Dr. Ellen Cieraad at Landcare Research, both experts on New Zealand treeline dynamics.Specifically, a genotyping by sequencing approach, double digest restriction site associated DNA discovery, will be used to simultaneously sequence and identify highly informative molecular markers, single nucleotide polymorphisms, across the mountain beech (Nothofagus solandri var. cliffortioides (Hook.f.) Poole.) genome. Genome wide datasets are rare in forest species but next generation sequencing is allowing large genomic regions to be analyzed efficiently. The genomic variation will be assessed along three elevational transects to identify if seed dispersal limitation is a cause of abrupt alpine treelines. This NSF EAPSI award is funded in collaboration with the Royal Society of New Zealand.

这项研究将确定种子在新西兰高山树木的传播是否有限，以及它们突然和引人注目的形式的原因。新西兰的陡峭高山树线是一个在过去50年里经历了变暖而高山树线位置没有相应变化的系统。在一个紧密联系的植被-气候系统中，我们预计树线应该在短至十年的时间内相对紧密地跟踪气候。与能够对变化的环境条件迅速作出反应的动物不同，植物是固定在太空中的，必须通过种子传播进行代际反应。这项研究将通过以下方式解决这个问题：1）描述山毛榉树系的基因流特征; 2）评估树系扩散受限的程度，从而导致其突然形成。这项研究将分析基因组数据，使研究人员能够剖析树线形成个体和下面的森林个体之间的遗传相似性，梳理影响扩散的生态因素和树线跟踪未来气候变化的潜力。这项研究将与新西兰研究人员林肯大学的布拉德凯斯博士和土地护理研究中心的埃伦西拉德博士合作进行，他们都是新西兰树线动态的专家。具体来说，通过测序方法进行基因分型，双消化限制性位点相关DNA发现，将用于同时测序和鉴定高度信息化的分子标记，单核苷酸多态性，山山毛榉（Nothofagus solandri var.）cliffortioides（Hook.f.）普尔。）基因组全基因组数据集在森林物种中是罕见的，但下一代测序允许有效地分析大的基因组区域。基因组变异将沿沿着三个海拔样带进行评估，以确定种子传播的限制是否是突然的高山林木线的原因。这个NSF EAPSI奖是与新西兰皇家学会合作资助的。