Aquatic N2-Fixation Research Coordination Network (ANF-RCN)

氮是所有生命的基本元素。虽然地球的大气主要是氮，但它并不容易为植物和动物所利用。在生命历史的早期，一些微生物进化出了将大气中的氮转化为生物有用形式的能力，这一过程称为固氮。这一过程是全球氮循环的一个主要组成部分，已在公海和陆地生态系统中得到广泛研究。然而，内陆和沿海水生生态系统的固氮率和生态控制仍然知之甚少。这些生态系统至关重要，因为它们将陆地和海洋生物群落联系在一起。它们也相当多样化。对水生固氮的一般理解需要代表不同观点的科学家之间的强有力的整合。水生固氮研究协调网络将通过汇集研究从淡水到海洋连续体的固氮的科学家，为了解水生固氮建立一个生态框架。网络活动将提高科学发现的质量，并为不同科学领域的研究生和早期职业科学家提供培训。水生固氮研究协调网络将提供一个平台，让生物化学家、计算建模师、生态学家、水文学家和微生物学家广泛参与，以解决三个研究协调机会：1）生物多样性和环境对自养和异养固氮的控制; 2）固氮的生态化学计量学; 3）固氮速率和命运的放大。三个工作组将在五年时间内通过一系列面对面和在线会议以及通过项目网站（www.aquaticnfixation.com）进行协调，以相继利用每个工作组的产品。该项目将通过将生态化学计量学框架与化学资源的水文运输相结合来推进生态系统科学，以限制内陆和沿海沃茨生态动力学中的固氮率和固定氮的命运。该奖项反映了NSF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。

Nitrogen is an essential element for all life. Although Earth’s atmosphere is mostly nitrogen, it is not readily available for plants and animals. Early in the history of life, some microorganisms evolved the ability to convert atmospheric nitrogen into a biologically useful form through a process called nitrogen fixation. This process is a major component of the global nitrogen cycle and has been extensively studied in open-ocean and terrestrial ecosystems. Yet, nitrogen fixation rates and ecological controls remain poorly understood in inland and coastal aquatic ecosystems. These ecosystems are critical as they link terrestrial and marine biomes. They are also quite diverse. A general understanding of aquatic nitrogen fixation requires strong integration between scientists representing diverse perspectives. The Aquatic Nitrogen Fixation Research Coordination Network will develop an ecological framework for understanding aquatic nitrogen fixation by bringing together scientists studying nitrogen fixation across the freshwater to marine continuum. Network activities will improve the quality of scientific discovery and training for graduate students and early career scientists across diverse fields of science.The Aquatic Nitrogen Fixation Research Coordination Network will provide a platform to engage a broad community of biogeochemists, computational modelers, ecologists, hydrologists and microbiologists to address three Research Coordination Opportunities: 1) the biodiversity and environmental controls on autotrophic and heterotrophic nitrogen fixation, 2) the ecological stoichiometry of nitrogen fixation, and 3) the upscaling of nitrogen fixation rates and fates. Three working groups focused on these opportunities will coordinate over a period of five years through a series of face-to-face and online meetings, as well as through the project website (www.aquaticnfixation.com) to successively build upon the products from each group. The project will advance ecosystem science by integrating the framework of ecological stoichiometry with the hydrologic transport of chemical resources to constrain nitrogen fixation rates and fixed nitrogen fates within the ecological dynamics of inland and coastal waters.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.