NSF/GEO-NERC: Fungi in a Warmer World

真菌的范围从有毒的病原体到生态系统中的关键营养循环。了解它们的作用和全球分布对于我们应对不断变化的环境条件至关重要。事实证明，这很困难，因为不存在必要的大规模，长期，全球真菌群落数据集。该项目将识别和分析保存在中中新世气候适宜期（MMCO）之前、期间和之后的沉积物中的小型真菌遗骸（真菌微化石），这是一个始于1700万年前的逐渐变暖事件，以产生所需的数据。研究结果将用于建立过去环境变化的更好模型，并预测真菌将如何应对当今不断变化的气候条件。这一国际研究项目通过学生研究和分层指导机会，将小型农村大学与旗舰研究机构联系起来，并通过一个可以广泛传播的参与包与小学生进行外联，通过在科学会议上举办关于这一主题的研讨会，该项目提供了第一个全球真菌生物多样性和生态系统服务数据集。以逐渐变暖为特征的地质时期的。对该数据集的分析将用于检验以下假设：1）MMCO期间的总体真菌多样性较高; 2）全球MMCO真菌组合将显示出更大的物种丰富度和森林相关子囊菌的丰度; 3）MMCO期间的真菌多样性在温暖的非季节性气候地区最大。假设检验利用三个互补的研究途径：1）鉴定来自北美、南美、南非、阿拉伯海、澳大利亚、东南亚和欧洲的11个地点的化石真菌和真菌群落组合; 2）综合来自MMCO的全球真菌记录; 3）利用统计上可靠的技术，利用新产生的数据和现有数据，为MMCO重建全球气候。这三项研究活动的结合将提供必要的数据，以了解真菌的生物多样性和生态学在一个温暖的世界的背景下，这个项目是由沉积地质学和古生物学计划，（NSG/GEO），建立计划，以刺激竞争性研究（EPSCoR），和NERC共同资助。这是一个由国家科学基金会地球科学理事会（NSF/GEO）和联合王国国家环境研究理事会（UKRI/NERC）通过NSF/GEO-NERC牵头机构协议共同资助的项目。该协议允许美国/英国提交一份联合提案，并由研究者拥有最大预算比例的机构进行同行评审。一旦成功地共同确定了一个奖项，每个机构都会为预算的一部分和与自己的调查人员和工作组成部分相关的调查人员提供资金。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。

Fungi range from virulent pathogens to key nutrient recyclers in ecosystems. Understanding their role and global distribution has become vital to our response to changing environmental conditions. This has proven difficult because the necessary large-scale, long-term, global fungal community datasets do not exist. This project will identify and analyze small fungal remains (fungal microfossils) preserved in sediments from before, during, and after the Middle Miocene Climatic Optimum (MMCO), a gradual warming event that began 17 million years ago, to produce the needed data. Results will be used to build better models of past environmental changes and to predict how fungi will respond to changing climate conditions today. This international research project links small, rural universities with flagship research institutions through student research and tiered-mentoring opportunities, as well as outreach to primary school children with an engagement package that can be disseminated broadly, and the greater scientific community through workshops on this topic at scientific meetings.This project provides the first global data set of fungal biodiversity and ecosystem services during an interval of geologic time characterized by a gradual warming event. Analyses of this dataset will be used to test the following hypotheses: 1) Overall fungal diversity was higher during the MMCO; 2) MMCO fungal assemblages globally will show a greater species richness and abundance of forest-associated ascomycetes; and 3) Fungal diversity during the MMCO was greatest in areas of warm-unseasonal climates. Hypothesis testing utilizes three complementary research avenues: 1) identification of fossil fungi and fungal community assemblages from 11 localities in North America, South America, South Africa, the Arabian Sea, Australia, Southeast Asia, and Europe; 2) synthesis of global fungal records from the MMCO; and 3) reconstruction of global climate for the MMCO using statistically robust techniques and utilizing both the new data generated and existing data. In combination, these three research activities will provide the necessary data to understand fungal biodiversity and ecology in the context of a warmer world.This project is jointly funded by the Sedimentary Geology and Paleobiology Program, (NSG/GEO), the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR), and NERC. This is a project that is jointly funded by the National Science Foundation’s Directorate of Geosciences (NSF/GEO) and the National Environment Research Council (UKRI/NERC) of the United Kingdom (UK) via the NSF/GEO-NERC Lead Agency Agreement. This Agreement allows a single joint US/UK proposal to be submitted and peer-reviewed by the Agency whose investigator has the largest proportion of the budget. Upon successful joint determination of an award, each Agency funds the proportion of the budget and the investigators associated with its own investigators and component of the work.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.