NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2020: The functional biogeography of ectomycorrhizal fungi: elucidating cross-scale mechanisms that inform global models

这一行动为NSF 2020财年生物学博士后研究奖学金提供了资金，综合研究调查了基因组、环境和表型之间相互作用的生命规则。该奖学金支持研究员的研究和培训，这些研究员将以创新的方式为生活规则领域做出贡献。这项研究将提高对植物和真菌之间的生物相互作用的理解，这些相互作用影响森林对快速变化的气候的反应。这位研究员将使用田间、实验室和气候模拟相结合的方法来研究植物如何与共生(有益的)根部相关真菌相互作用。土壤氮素有效性控制着森林的生长，这位研究员将比较热带、温带森林和北方森林中的共生真菌对树木吸收氮素的影响有何不同。通过确定现有真菌群落如何与某些气候区域相联系，这位研究员将预测未来的真菌群落，以便预测森林将如何应对气候变化。为了扩大这项工作的影响，该研究员将通过在实地和实验室指导和教授服务不足的第一代高中生和本科生来促进学生的学习和发现。这项研究使用了一种综合方法来调整土壤属性与外生菌根真菌(ECM)的生物地理群落结构和功能之间的层次分析水平。该研究员将使用一系列测序方法来了解ECM群落寻找有机氮的能力的变化。此外，该研究员还将开发统计方法，将ECM衰变的测量与ECM属的地理分布联系起来。在这样做的过程中，这位研究员将限制当前和未来植物对有机氮的同化，有机氮是植物氮的一种来源，由于对其对植物生长的总体贡献缺乏了解，因此没有包括在现有的地球系统模型中。最后，该研究员将使用功能生物地理学框架来预测ECM共生体对气候变化的响应。这位研究员正在接受关于元基因组分析、生态预测和气候建模的统计方法方面的培训。该研究员将与斯坦福大学教育学院合作，研究和实施连接实地和实验室方法的探究式单元。最后，该研究员将开发、教授和出版关于土壤和微生物生态学的本科和高中教育课程。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2020, Integrative Research Investigating the Rules of Life Governing Interactions Between Genomes, Environment and Phenotypes. The fellowship supports research and training of the fellow that will contribute to the area of Rules of Life in innovative ways. This research will improve understanding of biological interactions between plants and fungi that affect forest response to a rapidly changing climate. The fellow will use a combination of field, laboratory and climate modeling approaches to study how plants interact with symbiotic (helpful) root-associated fungi. Soil nitrogen availability controls forest growth and the fellow will compare how symbiotic fungi in the tropics, temperate forests and boreal forests differ in their impact on tree uptake of nitrogen. By determining how existing fungal communities are linked with certain climatic regions the fellow will forecast future fungal communities in order to predict how forests will respond to a changing climate. To broaden the impact of the work, the fellow will promote student learning and discovery by mentoring and teaching underserved and first-generation high-school and undergraduate students in the field and laboratory. This research uses an integrative approach to align hierarchical levels of analysis between soil properties and the biogeographic community structure and function of ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi. The fellow will use a range of sequencing approaches to understand variation in the capacity of ECM communities to scavenge for organic N. Moreover, the fellow will develop statistical approaches to link measurements of ECM decay with the geographic distribution of ECM genera. In so doing, the fellow will constrain current and future plant assimilation of organic N, a source of plant N which is not included in existing earth system models due to poor understanding of its overall contribution to plant growth. Finally, the fellow will use a functional biogeographic framework to forecast the response of ECM symbionts to climatic change. The fellow is being trained in statistical approaches for metagenomic analysis, ecological forecasting and climatic modeling. Working in conjunction with the Stanford School of Education, the fellow will study and implement inquiry-based units bridging field and laboratory approaches. Finally, the fellow will develop, teach and publish educational undergraduate and high-school curricula on soil and microbial ecology.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.