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

该行动资助2021财年NSF生物学博士后研究奖学金，研究基因组，环境和表型之间相互作用的生命规则的综合研究。该奖学金支持将以创新方式为《生活规则》领域作出贡献的研究员的研究和培训。本项目旨在解决入侵湿地植物的问题。这些破坏性的非本地植物通过取代本地物种和退化鸟类、鱼类、昆虫和人类的栖息地，对湿地造成了重大危害。然而，入侵植物也可以提供好处，例如减少侵蚀，吸收碳和去除污染物。该项目的目的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。这项工作的重点是犹他州的大盐湖湿地，那里入侵芦苇芦苇已经入侵了26,000英亩。为了控制它，使用了昂贵和破坏性的技术，包括除草剂、放牧、推平和焚烧。本研究将采用先进的生物地球化学、水文和微生物技术，对芦苇去除的利弊进行全面评估。它将通过实践研究经验，扩大在科学领域代表性不足的学生的参与。本项目旨在研究芦苇入侵相关环境扰动对微生物基因表达和群落功能的影响及防治措施。拟议的工作将确定基因表达如何与环境因素相关，包括入侵物种和人类管理。虽然该项目侧重于湿地芦苇，但入侵权衡假设和用于测试它的多尺度方法将为表征微生物群落、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。利用与犹他州政府机构的合作伙伴关系，大规模的生态系统操作将在未缓解的地点和芦苇去除的地点测量营养循环、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环境和站点历史所覆盖进行预测建模。该项目将与研究员与美国原住民大学生的现有关系合作，提供进行实地考察和参与数据分析、统计和写作的机会。该研究员将通过扩展分子技术和分析、转化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。

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.