NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2021: The invasive tradeoffs hypothesis: how does wetland plant removal affect microbial and nutrient linkages

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。该项目解决了入侵湿地植物的问题。这些破坏性的非本土植物取代了本土物种，使鸟类、鱼类、昆虫和人类的栖息地退化，对湿地造成了重大损害。然而，入侵植物也可以提供好处，如减少侵蚀、吸收碳和清除污染物。该项目的目标是通过比较入侵植物移除的成本和收益来改善湿地的管理。这项工作主要集中在犹他州的大盐湖湿地，入侵的芦苇已经入侵了超过26,000英亩的土地。使用昂贵和破坏性的技术来控制它，包括除草剂、放牧、推土机和焚烧。这项研究将使用先进的生物地球化学、水文学和微生物技术，对芦荟去除的利弊进行全面评估。它将扩大在科学领域代表性不足的学生的参与，这些学生拥有亲身实践的研究经验。本项目调查与芦荟入侵相关的环境扰动和控制措施对微生物基因表达和群落功能的影响。这项拟议的工作将确定基因表达如何与环境因素有关，包括入侵物种和人类管理。虽然该项目的重点是湿地中的芦荟，但入侵权衡假说和用于测试该假说的多尺度方法将为描述微生物群落、植物、人类管理和生态系统功能之间的生态系统相互作用提供一个可扩展的框架。利用与犹他州机构的伙伴关系，大规模生态系统操纵将测量未缓解的地点和芦荟去除地点的营养循环、微生物基因表达和水文功能；这些数据将允许对这些相互作用如何影响或被当地背景和地点历史覆盖的预测建模。该项目将与该研究员与美洲原住民大学生的现有关系合作，提供进行田野调查和参与数据分析、统计和写作的机会。这位研究员将通过扩展分子技术和分析、翻译生态学和预测建模方面的知识和技能，为未来的科学家和教授职业生涯接受变革性培训。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. This project addresses the problem of invasive wetland plants. These destructive, non-native plants have caused significant harm to wetlands by replacing native species and degrading habitat for birds, fish, insects, and people. However, invasive plants can also provide benefits, such as reducing erosion, taking up carbon, and removing pollutants. The goal of this project is to improve management of wetlands by comparing the costs and benefits of invasive plant removal. The work focuses on the Great Salt Lake wetlands of Utah, where the invasive reed Phragmites australis has invaded over 26,000 acres. Costly and disruptive techniques are used for its control, including herbicides, grazing, bulldozing, and burning. This research will use advanced biogeochemical, hydrological, and microbial techniques to provide a holistic assessment of the pros and cons of Phragmites removal. It will broaden participation for students underrepresented in science with hands-on research experiences. This project investigates the effect of environmental perturbations associated with Phragmites invasion and control measures on microbial gene expression and community function. The proposed work will identify how gene expression is related to environmental factors, including invasive species and human management. While the project focuses on Phragmites in wetlands, the invasive tradeoff hypothesis and the multi-scale methodology used to test it will provide a scalable framework for characterizing ecosystem interactions among the microbial community, plants, human management, and ecosystem function. Leveraging partnerships with Utah state agencies, a large-scale ecosystem manipulation will measure nutrient cycling, microbial gene expression, and hydrological function in unmitigated sites and sites with Phragmites removal; these data will allow predictive modeling of how these interactions influence or are overridden by local context and site history. The project will partner with the Fellow’s existing relationship with Native American university students, providing opportunities to conduct fieldwork and participate in data analysis, statistics, and writing. The Fellow will receive transformative training for a future career as a scientist and professor by expanding knowledge and skills in molecular techniques and analyses, translational ecology, and predictive modeling.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.