NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology: How do dominant species mediate elevational range shifts for subordinate species?

该行动为2022财年美国国家科学基金会生物学博士后研究奖学金提供资金，扩大生物学中代表性不足群体的参与。该奖学金支持研究员的研究和培训计划，该计划将增加在生物学中代表性不足的群体的参与。预计环境变化将导致植物物种范围的重大变化。了解这些转变的方向和后果是很重要的。预计植物分布范围将向两极和更高海拔地区移动。然而，先前的研究表明，植物种群正在遵循不同的轨迹，包括没有变化，或者朝着与预测相反的方向移动。因此，在预测植物物种范围的变化时，似乎必须考虑植物之间如何相互作用等因素。通过这项研究，他的目标是增加对植物群落在气候变化中如何变化以及植物相互作用如何影响这些变化的理解。对温带山地生态系统进行了研究。在这里，研究员将通过调查安第斯山脉的热带山地生态系统来分析范围变化和测试生态理论，从而扩大知识。这项研究将为群落生态学和全球变化生物学领域做出贡献，同时加强美国科学家与安第斯国家科学家之间的国际合作，重点是厄瓜多尔。影响植物范围转移的一个关键因素可能是优势种的存在或缺失将如何影响其新范围内的从属物种。如果新群落中没有优势种，那么优势种主要扮演促进者或竞争者的角色，从属物种的丰度和多样性可能会降低或增加。为了验证这些概念，他将把厄瓜多尔安第斯山脉的天然草皮移植到更高的海拔上，用开放式的室内人为地加热一些草皮，并从一些草皮上去除优势物种。将测试植物物种的功能性状和生长形式，以确定这些性状是否有助于预测从属物种在新的（升高和/或更温暖的）条件下对优势物种存在或缺失的反应。这项研究将扩大研究员的研究专长，并将为厄瓜多尔博士后、研究人员和学生提供参与生物学研究的机会。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 2022, Broadening Participation of Groups Underrepresented in Biology. The Fellowship supports a research and training plan for the Fellow that will increase the participation of groups underrepresented in biology. Environmental change is expected to cause major shifts in plant species ranges. It is important to understand the direction and consequence of those shifts. Plant ranges are predicted to move towards the poles and higher elevations. However, previous research suggests plant populations are following different trajectories, including no change, or shifting in the opposite direction than predicted. Therefore, it appears that factors such as how plants interact with each other must be considered for making predictions about changing plant species ranges. With this research, the fellow aims to increase the understanding of how plant communities will be altered in a changing climate and how plant interactions shape those changes. Mountain ecosystems in temperate regions have been studied. Here the fellow will expand knowledge by investigating tropical mountain ecosystems in the Andes to analyze range changes and test ecological theories. This study will make contributions to the fields of community ecology and global change biology while strengthening international collaborations between US scientists and scientists from Andean countries, with an emphasis on Ecuador. One key factor affecting the shift in plant ranges may be how the presence or absence of a dominant species will affect the subordinate species in their new range. If the dominant species is absent from the novel community, the abundance and diversity of subordinate species may be reduced or enhanced if the dominant species primarily acts as a facilitator or competitor, respectively. To test these concepts, the fellow will transplant naturally occurring turfs in the Ecuadorian Andes to higher elevations, artificially warm some of the turfs using open top chambers and remove the dominant species from some turfs. Functional traits, growth forms, of the plant species will be tested to determine whether these traits aid in predicting the response of the subordinate species to the presence or absence of the dominant species under the new (elevated and/or warmer) conditions. This research will expand the fellow’s research expertise and will provide opportunities for Ecuadorian postdocs, researchers, and students to participate in biological research.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.