NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2021: Determining the mechanism that drive assembly in belowground microbial decomposer systems

这一行动为NSF 2021财年生物学博士后研究奖学金提供了资金，综合研究调查了支配基因组、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。地下土壤微生物是土壤健康和全球养分循环的关键贡献者。尽管地下微生物群落对生态系统很重要，但调节生物地球化学过程的地下微生物群落如何应对环境变化或土地管理做法的变化仍然知之甚少。这一主题具有实际意义，从改进全球气候-碳循环反馈模型到改善当地农场层面的恢复土壤以改善健康和农业生产力的努力。例如，分解或将有机碳转化为二氧化碳的微生物过程对碳循环有直接影响，但预测微生物对分解速率的控制仍然很困难。这项研究将使用在不同生态地点高度复制的土壤微生物分解系统，以了解什么可以预测分解速度。作为该项目的一部分，该研究员将通过支持科学领域代表性不足的本科生的项目来指导本科生研究人员，并开发外展和培训资源，将科学教师培训为土壤碳气候反馈和微生物在全球环境变化中的作用方面的主题专家。具体地说，这个项目将解决的问题包括：1)特定的基因组功能过程能否预测分解速度，以及这些过程在多大程度上与气候和地理特征一致或不同，以及2)关于微生物功能特征与分解速度相关的平均站点观测与局部尺度观测是否会产生不同的结论？为了实现这些目标，该项目将利用美国国家生态观测站网络内不同生态地点的空间清晰的田间地块进行的一系列高度重复的现场粪便袋实验，以及相应的实验室缩微实验。该研究员将使用功能组学方法调查分解者群落，并使用分层模型通过凋落物损失和地点内和地点之间的土壤C呼吸将分解速度联系起来，以估计特定类群及其功能属性的重要性。该项目的结果将有助于促进对微生物控制分解速率的定量理解--这些信息目前很难在陆地碳模型中得到利用。这位研究员将获得数学建模方面的培训机会，以及在指导、外展和拨款撰写方面发展沟通技能。该奖项反映了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 2021, 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. Belowground soil microbes are key contributors to soil health and the global cycling of nutrients. Despite their importance to ecosystems, how belowground microbial communities that mediate biogeochemical processes will respond to environmental change or changes in land management practices remains poorly understood. This topic is of practical relevance, from improving models of climate-carbon cycle feedbacks globally to improving local, farm-level efforts to restore soils to improve health and agricultural productivity. For example, decomposition, or the microbial processes involved in the conversion of organic carbon to CO2, has direct consequences for C cycling, however predicting microbial controls on decomposition rates remains difficult. This research will use highly replicated soil microbial decomposition systems across diverse ecological sites to understand what predicts decomposition rates. As a part of this project, the Fellow will mentor undergraduate researchers through programs that support underrepresented undergraduate students in the sciences, and also develop outreach and training resources for training science teachers as subject matter experts on soil-carbon climate feedbacks and the microbial role in global environmental change. Specifically, this project will address questions including: 1) Can particular genomic functional processes predict rates of decomposition and to what extent these processes are consistent or varying with climatic and geographic signatures and 2) do mean-site versus local-scale observations generate different conclusions about the microbial functional traits associated with rates of decomposition? To address these objectives, this project will leverage a series of highly replicated in situ litterbag experiments from spatially explicit field plots across diverse ecological sites within the U.S. National Ecological Observatory Network and corresponding lab microcosm experiments. The Fellow will survey decomposer communities with functional ‘omics approaches and use hierarchical modeling to link rates of decomposition via litter loss and soil C respiration within and across sites to estimate the importance of particular groups of taxa and their functional attributes. Results from this project will help advance the quantitative understanding of microbial controls on decomposition rates – information that is currently difficult to leverage in terrestrial carbon models. The Fellow will gain training opportunities in mathematical modeling as well as developing communication skills in mentoring, outreach, and grant writing.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.