BII: New Roots for Restoration: integrating plant traits, communities, and the soil ecosphere to advance restoration of natural and agricultural systems

在过去的150年里，城市和农村地区的土地使用转换影响了全球75%的土地，导致世界表层土壤流失约50%。在了解植物如何相互作用以及如何与土壤相互作用的基础上进行知情选择，将使自然和农业系统中退化的土地得以恢复。植物通过其根系将生态系统的地上部分与土壤联系起来；然而，从根到茎(茎和叶)的植物特征如何管理这些联系仍然知之甚少。植物在有机体中是不寻常的，因为植物身体的一半生活在地上的空气中，而另一半生活在地下的土壤中。新根恢复生物综合研究所的科学使命是通过了解土壤生态圈(土壤和土壤微生物)和植物群落如何影响地上和地下植物特性的变化来解决土地损失：地上和地下植物特性如何影响植物群落和土壤生态圈的特性？该研究所取得的科学进步将提高我们根据地上结构预测地下功能特征的能力。这些信息可用于加速育种(多年生作物)和选择适当多样性的植物(野生物种)，用于恢复自然和农业生态系统的生态和功能适当的努力。认识到修复需要跨学科的多样化、灵活的劳动力队伍，该研究所建立了教育、培训、多样化和有目的的扩展，具有许多切入点和跨实验室和机构的现成流动性。新的修复生物根整合研究所推进关键的、交叉的生物学主题，即植物根和新梢如何相互关联，以及这些关系如何影响植物群落和土壤生态圈。科学活动的重点是多年生植物表型的遗传和环境决定因素，以及多年生植物表型对群落和生态系统的影响，使用三个主要植物科(菊科、豆科、禾本科)的代表性物种。一系列同心圆指导着研究活动：核心是植物有机体系统，在这些系统中，当代的表型方法量化了根和地上部系统，并被用来理解地上和地下植物特征在个体、种群和物种之间是如何变化的。接下来，将植物置于种群和群落的环境中，以研究地上和地下性状协变模式如何在种群之间转移，以及作为植物群落组成的函数。为了了解植物、群落和土壤生态圈之间的相互作用，新的实验研究了土壤和土壤微生物群如何调节根/冠变化以及种群和植物物种之间的相互作用，反之亦然。最后，结构方程模型被用来评估植物表型变异、物种、群落和立地属性对土壤变化的相对重要性。新的修复之根吸引了来自不同学科(农业生态学、群落生态学、计算机科学、遗传学、植物生物学、修复、土壤微生物生态学、土壤科学)、研究背景(自然、农业系统)和组织(非营利性研究机构、大学、植物园)的研究人员，并得到了研究所专业核心的支持，这些核心提供技术培训和跨项目的数据一致性。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。

Land-use conversion in urban and rural areas has impacted 75% of lands globally, resulting in ~50% loss of the world’s topsoil in the last 150 years. Informed selection of plants based on an understanding of how they interact with each other and with the soil will enable restoration of degraded lands in natural and agricultural systems. Through their root systems, plants connect aboveground components of ecosystems to the soil; however, how plant traits, from roots to shoots (stems and leaves), govern these connections remains poorly known. Plants are unusual among organisms because half of the plant body lives aboveground, in air, while the other half lives belowground, in soil. The scientific mission of the New Roots for Restoration Biology Integration Institute is to address land losses by understanding how the soil ecosphere (soil and soil microbes) and the plant community influences above and below ground variation in plant traits, and vice versa: how do above- and belowground plant traits influence properties of plant communities and the soil ecosphere? Scientific advances made by the Institute will improve our ability to predict below-ground functional traits based on above-ground structures. This information can be applied to accelerate breeding (for perennial crops) and select suitably diverse plants (for wild species) for use in ecologically and functionally appropriate efforts to restore natural and agricultural ecosystems. Recognizing that restoration requires a diverse, nimble workforce that spans disciplines, the Institute establishes education, training, diversifying, and outreach intentionally designed with many points of entry and ready mobility across labs and institutions.The New Roots for Restoration Biology Integration Institute advances the critical, cross-cutting biological theme of how plant roots and shoots relate to one another, and how those relationships influence and are influenced by plant communities and the soil ecosphere. Scientific activities focus on genetic and environmental determinants of perennial plant phenotypes, and the influence of perennial phenotypes on communities and ecosystems using representative species from three prominent plant families (Asteraceae, Fabaceae, Poaceae). A series of concentric circles orient research activities: at the core are plant organismal systems, in which contemporary phenotyping approaches quantify root and shoot systems and are used to understand how above- and belowground plant traits covary among individuals, populations, and species. Next, plants are placed in population and community contexts to investigate how patterns of above- and belowground trait covariation shift across populations and as a function of plant community composition. To understand interactions between plants, communities, and the soil ecosphere, new experiments examine how soil and soil microbiome mediate root/shoot variation and interactions of populations and plant species, and vice versa. Finally, structural equation modeling is used to assess relative importance of plant phenotypic variation, species, communities, and site properties to changes in soil. New Roots for Restoration engages researchers from disparate disciplines (agroecology, community ecology, computer science, genetics, plant biology, restoration, soil microbial ecology, soil science), research contexts (natural, agricultural systems), and organizations (non-profit research institutes, universities, botanical gardens), and is supported by Institute Expertise Cores that provide technical training and data consistency across projects.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.