CAREER: Improving understanding and prediction of photosynthetic acclimation to global change

陆地植物通过光合作用调节二氧化碳从大气到地球表面的最大转移。由于大气中二氧化碳的积累是持续气候变化的主要驱动力，因此了解植物，特别是光合作用，将如何应对未来的条件至关重要，因为这些反应将决定未来气候变化的速度和幅度。尽管气候模型对植物过程很敏感，但它们对植物的描述过于简单。植物功能的模型表示反映了学生对这些过程的理解，如通俗报刊和教科书中所表现的简单方式所示。该项目将量化植物对持续的全球变化的长期反应，包括适应，并将利用实验室和野外的发现来改进气候模型。该研究计划将与一个教育计划相结合，重点是让学生探索植物与气候变化之间的相互关系。学生的动手研究经验将有助于培养下一代科学家。本研究将采用综合模型-实验方法来确定光合适应反应的机制及其对更大生态过程的影响。首先，它将量化土壤养分和养分获取对光合适应的影响以及由此产生的对整个植物功能的影响。这将检验土壤养分需求改变光合性状对土壤养分有效性反应的一般假设。其次，该项目将确定植物适应什么以及适应需要多长时间。这将解决一个普遍的假设，即资源保守性较低的物种将比资源保守性较高的物种适应得更快。第三，该项目将量化光合适应对群落和生态系统尺度过程的影响。它将通过在多个模型中测试完善的理论来测试个体生理反应可以实质上改变更大的生态过程的假设。该研究将与一个教育计划相结合，该计划将开发两个基于课程的本科生研究经验（CUREs）。第一个课程将通过半独立的研究项目，教授非专业学生植物作为全球气候调节器的作用。第二个CURE将完善一个专业级的CURE，通过开发、实施和传播独立的衍生项目，为学生提供参与本项目资助的主要研究的机会。这些CUREs将专门针对TTU（一所西班牙裔服务机构）中代表性不足的少数民族学生，作为增加植物生理学和全球变化生态学领域多样性的一种手段。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。

Land plants regulate the largest transfer of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to the Earth’s surface through the process of photosynthesis. Because carbon dioxide accumulation in the atmosphere is the primary driver of ongoing climate change, it is critical to understand how plants, and photosynthesis in particular, will respond to future conditions as these responses will dictate the rate and magnitude of future climate change. Despite their sensitivity to plant processes, the climate models include simplistic representations of plants. Model representation of plant functioning mirrors student understanding of these processes, as exemplified by the simplistic way in which they are represented in popular press and textbooks. This project will quantify long-term plant responses, including acclimation, to ongoing global change and will use findings from the lab and field to improve climate models. The research program will be integrated with an education program focused on student exploration of the interrelationships between plants and climate change. Hands-on research experiences for students will help to develop the next generation of scientists.This research will use an integrated model-experiment approach to define the mechanisms underlying photosynthetic acclimation responses and their impact on larger ecological processes. First, it will quantify the effect of soil nutrients and nutrient acquisition on photosynthetic acclimation and the resulting impact on whole-plant functioning. This will test the general hypothesis that soil nutrient demand alters photosynthetic trait responses to soil nutrient availability. Second, the project will determine what plants acclimate to and how long acclimation takes. This will address the general hypothesis that less resource conservative species will acclimate faster than more resource conservative species. Third, the project will quantify the impact of photosynthetic acclimation on community- and ecosystem-scale processes. It will test the hypothesis that the response of individual physiology can substantially alter larger ecological processes by testing refined theory in multiple models. The research will be integrated with an education program that will develop two course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs). The first will teach non-majors the role of plants as regulators of the global climate using semi-independent research projects. The second CURE will refine a majors-level CURE, providing opportunities for students to participate in the main research funded by this project by developing, carrying out, and disseminating independent spin-off projects. The CUREs will specifically target underrepresented minority students at TTU, a Hispanic Serving Institution, as a means to increase diversity in the fields of plant physiological and global change 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.