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

陆地植物通过光合作用过程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对未来条件做出反应是至关重要的，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，但它们包含了对植物的简单化表示。工厂功能的模型表示反映了学生对这些过程的理解，例如在大众媒体和教科书中表示这些过程的简单化方式。该项目将量化植物对持续全球变化的长期反应，包括适应，并将利用实验室和田间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，该教育计划侧重于学生探索植物与气候变化之间的相互关系。学生的实践研究经验将有助于培养下一代科学家。这项研究将使用集成的模型-实验方法来确定光合作用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作用适应的影响，以及由此对整个植物功能的影响。这将检验土壤养分需求改变光合作用特性对土壤养分有效性的响应这一普遍假设。其次，该项目将确定哪些植物适应以及驯化需要多长时间。这将解决一个普遍的假设，即资源节约较少的物种会比资源节约较多的物种适应得更快。第三，该项目将量化光合作用驯化对社区和生态系统规模过程的影响。它将通过在多个模型中测试改进后的理论，来检验个人生理反应可以实质上改变更大生态过程的假设。这项研究将与一个教育项目相结合，该项目将发展两个基于课程的本科生研究经验(CURE)。第一个项目将利用半独立的研究项目，向非专业学生讲授植物作为全球气候调节器的作用。第二个CURE将细化专业水平的CURE，通过开发、实施和传播独立的衍生项目，为学生提供参与该项目资助的主要研究的机会。CURES将专门针对TTU的少数族裔学生，TTU是一家西班牙裔服务机构，作为增加植物生理和全球变化生态领域多样性的一种手段。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。

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.