Convergence: RAISE: Linking the adaptive dynamics of plankton with emergent global ocean biogeochemistry

由于微生物的丰富和高活性，它们有可能极大地影响生态系统如何受到其环境变化的影响。然而，对微生物生理和多样性的描述是局部的和高度复杂的，因此很少在地球系统模型中考虑。因此，研究人员将重点放在一个能够定性和定量地整合微生物生态进化变化与全球生物地球化学的收敛研究框架上。在这里，研究人员将开发一种整合生物学家、数学家、工程师和地球科学家的知识和工具的方法，以了解海洋营养物质和碳循环之间的联系。来自不同领域的数据和知识的整合将为浮游生物资源需求的变化和生物地球化学影响提供一个强大的、生物丰富的、计算效率高的预测，解决海洋科学的一个基本挑战。此外，该项目可以作为许多其他面临生物学和地球科学之间类似缺乏融合的研究小组的路线图。传统上，海洋群落的碳、氮、磷元素比（C:N:P）被认为在Redfield比例下是静态的，但最近的研究表明了强烈的纬度变化。这种区域差异可能会对海洋生物多样性、生物地球化学功能和大气二氧化碳水平产生巨大的影响，但缺乏约束。因此，海洋群落C:N:P的变化可能代表了一种重要的生物反馈。在这里，研究人员提出了一个融合研究框架，整合细胞和生态过程控制微生物资源分配与地球系统模型。该方法结合了培养实验和组学测量，以提供细胞资源分配的分子理解。利用一个描述交流、移动壳的数学框架，该团队将量化局部混合、环境异质性和进化导致浮游生物资源分配和C:N:P系统偏差的程度。来自工程科学的优化工具将用于促进模型和观测的定量整合，跨越一系列尺度和复杂程度。最后，全球海洋建模将有助于了解浮游生物资源的利用如何影响地球系统过程。通过整合跨领域、规模和复杂性的数据和知识，研究人员将在浮游生物C:N:P的变化与全球生物地球化学循环之间建立强有力的联系。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Due to their sheer abundance and high activity, microorganisms have the potential to greatly influence how ecosystems are affected by changes in their environment. However, descriptions of microbial physiology and diversity are local and highly complex and thus rarely considered in Earth System Models. Thus, the researchers focus on a convergence research framework that can qualitatively and quantitatively integrate eco-evolutionary changes in microorganisms with global biogeochemistry. Here, the investigators will develop an approach that integrates the knowledge and tools of biologists, mathematicians, engineers, and geoscientists to understand the link between the ocean nutrient and carbon cycles. The integration of data and knowledge from diverse fields will provide a robust, biologically rich, and computationally efficient prediction for the variation in plankton resource requirements and the biogeochemical implications, addressing a fundamental challenge in ocean science. In addition, the project can serve as a road map for many other research groups facing a similar lack of convergence between biology and geoscience.Traditionally, the cellular elemental ratios of Carbon, Nitrogen, and Phosphorus (C:N:P) of marine communities have been considered static at Redfield proportions but recent studies have demonstrated strong latitudinal variation. Such regional variation may have large - but poorly constrained - implications for marine biodiversity, biogeochemical functioning, and atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. As such, variations in ocean community C:N:P may represent an important biological feedback. Here, the investigators propose a convergence research framework integrating cellular and ecological processes controlling microbial resource allocations with an Earth System model. The approach combines culture experiments and omics measurements to provide a molecular understanding of cellular resource allocations. Using a mathematical framework of increasing complexity describing communicating, moving demes, the team will quantify the extent to which local mixing, environmental heterogeneity and evolution lead to systematic deviations in plankton resource allocations and C:N:P. Optimization tools from engineering science will be used to facilitate the quantitative integration of models and observations across a range of scales and complexity levels. Finally, global ocean modeling will enable understanding of how plankton resource use impacts Earth System processes. By integrating data and knowledge across fields, scales and complexity, the investigators will develop a robust link between variation in plankton C:N:P and global biogeochemical cycles.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.