Dimensions: Functional, genetic, and taxonomic diversity of plant-fungal interactions along climatic gradients and their role in climate change driven species migrations

气候正在以前所未有的速度变暖。物种必须跟随气候变化而移动，或者进化以适应更温暖的环境；那些做不到这一点的将面临灭绝。大多数植物物种，特别是森林树木，依靠与生活在土壤中的微生物物种的密切联系，以获取它们正常生长所需的资源。人们对这些看不见却非常重要的土壤微生物如何分布在整个非洲大陆，以及它们将如何应对气候变化知之甚少。在这个项目中，来自美国东部森林的土壤微生物群落的遗传、分类和功能生物多样性将被表征，以测试气候方面的平行纬度模式。随着气候的变化，树木和土壤微生物可能不会以同样的速度移动。因此，实验将测试微生物物种迁移速度比树木慢或快的情况下对树木生长的功能后果。这项研究将使我们能够更精确地预测，在气候变暖期间，森林将如何随着真菌共生群落生物多样性的变化而变化。这项研究将对整个社会产生几个更广泛的影响。该项目将联合来自美国东部的公民科学家为土壤调查收集样本，以便将公众与原始研究联系起来。本科生（包括女性和代表性不足的少数民族）将在项目期间获得实践研究经验的指导，并鼓励他们开发独立的研究项目。通过帮助我们提高预测生态变化以应对气候变化的能力，这项研究将提高我们减轻和适应世界迅速变暖的不良后果的能力。

Climates are currently warming at unprecedented rates. Species must move to track the changing climate or evolve to tolerate warmer conditions; those that fail to do so face extinction. Most plant species, especially forest trees, rely on intimate associations with microbial species living in soil in order to capture the resources they need for proper growth. Little is known about how these invisible, but very important, soil microbes are distributed across the continent, and how they will respond to climate change. In this project, the genetic, taxonomic, and functional biodiversity of soil microbial communities from forests across the eastern US will be characterized to test for parallel latitudinal patterns with respect to climate. Trees and soil microbes will likely not move at equal speeds as climates change. Therefore, experiments will test the functional consequences for tree growth for situations where microbial species migrate slower or faster than trees. This research will allow for more precise predictions about how forests will change as a function of the changing biodiversity of the fungal symbiont community during climate warming. This research will have several broader impacts for society at large. The project will incorporate citizen scientists from across the eastern US in collecting samples for the soil survey, in order to connect the public with original research. Undergraduate students (including women and underrepresented minorities) will be mentored in hands-on research experiences during the project and encouraged to develop independent research projects. By helping to improve our ability to predict ecological changes in response to climate change, this research will increase our ability to mitigate and adapt to the undesirable consequences of a rapidly warming world.