NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2021: How does arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi impact pollination and plant fitness in an anthropogenically disturbed environment?

这项行动资助了2021财年的NSF生物学博士后研究奖学金，综合研究调查了基因组，环境和表型之间的生命管理相互作用的规则。该研究金支持研究员的研究和培训，以创新的方式为生活规则领域做出贡献。这项研究将集中在植物，传粉者和土壤中的丛枝菌根真菌之间的互利相互作用。植物-传粉者的互惠共生关系可能会在地表采矿等人为干扰后几十年发生改变。在被采矿污染的土壤中生长的植物可能缺乏投资于吸引传粉者的花卉特征所需的资源。然而，丛枝菌根真菌的存在可以减轻土壤污染对吸引力性状的负面影响。在回收的露天矿中，植物-丛枝菌根真菌和植物-传粉者互惠作用之间的相互作用在很大程度上仍未被探索。这项研究将阐明丛枝菌根真菌如何促进有吸引力的花性状和传粉者的访问，这反过来又有助于植物的持久性。该研究员将在许多场所传播成果，从全国会议到俄亥俄州州立大学的学生领导的科学俱乐部。此外，成果将用于设计客座讲座和实验室模块与定量和积极的学习成分为本科生物学课程;通过研究，研究员将指导本科生从代表性不足的群体。考虑到人类活动对自然环境的广泛影响，理解互利主义者在减轻这些干扰的负面影响方面所发挥的作用是生态学研究人员和学生的关键一课。首先是表征丛枝菌根真菌共生的10种植物物种的植物多样性的野生动物园，一个保护公园的历史，表面采矿坎伯兰，俄亥俄州。第二个目的是确定：1）丛枝菌根真菌是否促进焦点植物物种之一的有吸引力的花性状，并随后增加传粉者的访问和植物适合度和2）真菌是否通过促进花性状如物候，颜色，气味和花蜜量来减轻人为干扰对植物-传粉者互惠共生的负面影响。据推测，与丛枝菌根真菌生长的植物将有更有吸引力的花性状，更高的传粉者访问，和更高的健身，这样的效果将是最大的土壤污染时，也存在。此外，客座讲座和实验模块将与最佳教学实践一起规划，以提高课堂的公平性和包容性。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。

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. The research will focus on mutualistic interactions between plants, pollinators, and soil-dwelling arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. The plant-pollinator mutualism may be altered decades after anthropogenic disturbances, like surface mining. Plants growing in soils contaminated by mining may lack the resources needed to invest in floral traits attractive to pollinators. However, the presence of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi could lessen the negative effects of soil contamination on attractive traits. Interactions between the plant-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and plant-pollinator mutualisms in reclaimed surface mines remain largely unexplored. This research will illuminate how arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi promote attractive floral traits and pollinator visitation, which in turn contribute to plant persistence. The Fellow will disseminate the outcomes in many venues, from national meetings to student-led science clubs at The Ohio State University. Additionally, the outcomes will be used to design guest lectures and a lab module with quantitative and active learning components for undergraduate biology courses; through the research, the Fellow will mentor undergraduate students from underrepresented groups. Given the extensive impacts of anthropogenic disturbances on natural environments, understanding the role that mutualists play in alleviating the negative effects of these disturbances is a key lesson for researchers and students of ecology alike.The research has two aims. The first is to characterize the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal mutualists of ten plant species reflective of the plant diversity at The Wilds, a conservation park with a history of surface mining in Cumberland, Ohio. The second aim is to determine: 1) whether arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi promote attractive floral traits of one of the focal plant species and subsequently increase pollinator visitation and plant fitness and 2) whether the fungi mitigate the negative effect of anthropogenic disturbance on the plant-pollinator mutualism via the promotion of floral traits like phenology, color, scent, and nectar quantity. It is hypothesized that plants growing with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi will have more attractive floral traits, higher pollinator visitation, and higher fitness such that the effect will be greatest when soil contamination is also present. In addition, the guest lectures and lab module will be planned with the best pedagogical practices for increasing equity and inclusion in the classroom.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.