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

这一行动资助了NSF 2022财年生物学博士后研究奖学金，扩大了生物学中代表性不足的群体的参与。该研究金支持一项针对该研究员的研究和培训计划，该计划将增加生物学中代表性不足的群体的参与。环境变化预计将导致植物种类范围的重大变化。重要的是要了解这些转变的方向和后果。据预测，植物分布区将向两极和更高的海拔方向移动。然而，之前的研究表明，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，在对植物种类范围的变化做出预测时，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，这位研究员的目标是增加对气候变化中植物群落将如何改变以及植物相互作用如何塑造这些变化的理解。对温带地区的山地生态系统进行了研究。在这里，这位研究员将通过调查安第斯山脉的热带山地生态系统来扩展知识，以分析山脉变化并检验生态学理论。这项研究将在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和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物种的存在或不存在将如何影响新范围内的从属物种。如果新群落中没有优势种，如果优势种主要充当促进者或竞争者，则从属物种的丰富度和多样性可能会降低或增加。为了测试这些概念，这位研究员将把厄瓜多尔安第斯山脉的自然生长的草坪移植到更高的海拔上，使用敞开的顶部房间人工加热一些草坪，并从一些草坪上移除优势物种。将测试植物物种的功能特征、生长形式，以确定这些特征是否有助于预测在新的(升高和/或更温暖的)条件下，从属物种对优势物种存在或不存在的反应。这项研究将扩大该研究员的研究专长，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 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.