Dependence of endophytic fungus - grass symbioses on land-use intensity

在这个项目中，我们主要关注表生真菌对生物碱的产生、草食动物的毒性、时间动态以及沿土地利用强度梯度的物种之间的生物相互作用的生态和潜在的经济影响。通过我们的研究，我们想解决以下研究问题：1)德国150个草原上采样的内生植物-草群落产生了哪些途径的生物碱？2)土地利用强度是否影响内生植物的频率和不同年份之间的生物碱浓度？3)现实生态系统中的内生植物-草共生体在内生菌生长和生物碱产生方面是否表现出与普通花园条件下农业使用的草物种相同的时间动态？4)草中叶部真菌内生菌的组合是否受土地利用强度的影响？5)系统真菌内生菌是否影响草类物种的叶真菌内生真菌组合？6)我们能预测生物碱浓度超过对牲畜的毒性水平的原因和风险吗？

In this project we focus on ecological and potentially economic effects of systemic endophytic fungi of the genus Epichloë on alkaloid production, herbivore toxicity, temporal dynamics and biotic interactions between species along a land-use intensity gradient. With our study we want to address the following research questions:1) Which pathway alkaloids are produced by the endophyte-grass associations sampled on 150 grasslands across Germany?2) Does land-use intensity affect endophyte frequencies and alkaloid concentrations between years?3) Do endophyte-grass symbioses in real world ecosystems show the same temporal dynamics in endophyte growth and alkaloid production than agriculturally used grass species under common garden conditions?4) Is the assemblage of foliar fungal endophytes in grass affected by land-use intensity?5) Do systemic fungal endophytes affect foliar fungal endophyte assemblages in grass species?6) Can we predict causes and risks for alkaloid concentrations above the toxicity levels for livestock?