BRC-BIO Interactive effects of warming and drought on physiological and growth responses of boreal and temperate tree seedlings: A PUI Research Initiative

干旱对全世界森林的生长和生存产生不利影响。特别是，在空气和土壤温度升高的地区，由于植物和土壤中的水分过度蒸发，水变得特别有限。在这个项目中，变暖和干旱对树苗生长和光合作用速率等生理过程的综合影响将使用现有的北方森林变暖在生态交错带在危险（B4 WarmED）实验在明尼苏达州北方，以及新的普通花园和实验室为基础的实验在莱德大学在新泽西中部。这项研究将允许更精确地量化和了解土壤水分如何影响植物对变暖的敏感性，这可能对森林管理和栖息地恢复产生重大的社会效益。该项目还将在莱德大学（一个主要的本科院校）实施一个以课程为基础的本科生研究经验植物生物学课程。本课程将通过使用结构化的，基于探究的项目来提高本科生的研究技能和专业发展，这些项目解决了有关控制植物生长和发育的机制的新问题。鼓励来自代表性不足群体的科学家将是本科生教育和外联活动的一个主要重点。这项研究将扩大预测森林物种如何应对气候变化所需的知识和工具;特别是，气候变暖和水资源变化之间的相互作用将如何影响树苗的生长、存活和基本生理特征。很少有操纵性的研究直接评估了不同的温度和降水制度对植物群落的相互影响，尽管各种模型分析表明，这两个因素将相互作用，影响物种的方式是不可预测的单因素实验。我们将利用正在进行的气候变化实验在北方明尼苏达州（B4 WarmED），同时也扩大这个长期实验的方面，以莱德大学校园在新泽西。虽然B4 WarmED实验的先前研究已经观察到变暖对植物生理和某些物种生长的积极影响（例如，糖枫，燃烧的橡树），预计减少供水将抵消这些积极的影响，并导致更多的负面植物反应。拟议的项目将量化叶片生理性状（例如，光合作用，水势），这已经在先前的研究中显示出高度预测植物生长策略和/或不同环境中的死亡率响应。该项目的成果将在学术期刊上发表，在地区和国际会议上传播，并纳入莱德大学的本科课程。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来支持。

Drought negatively affects the growth and survival of forests worldwide. In particular, in areas where air and soil temperatures are increasing, water becomes particularly limiting due to excess evaporation of water from plants and soil. In this project, the combined effect of warming and drought on tree seedling growth and physiological processes such as rates of photosynthesis will be investigated using both the existing Boreal Forest Warming at an Ecotone in Danger (B4WarmED) experiment in northern Minnesota, as well as new common garden and laboratory-based experiments at Rider University in central New Jersey. This research will allow for more precise quantification and understanding of how soil moisture affects the sensitivity of plants to warming, which could have significant societal benefits related to forest management and habitat restoration. This project will also implement a course-based undergraduate research experience plant biology class at Rider University, a primarily undergraduate institution. This course will enhance the research skills and professional development of undergraduate students by using structured, inquiry-based projects addressing novel questions about mechanisms that control plant growth and development. Encouraging scientists from underrepresented groups will be a main focus of undergraduate education and outreach activities.This research will expand the knowledge and tools needed to predict how forest species will respond to climate change; in particular, how tree seedling growth, survival, and underlying physiological traits will be affected by the interaction between climate warming and changes in water availability. Few manipulative studies have directly assessed the interactive effects of varying temperature and precipitation regimes on plant communities, despite a variety of model analyses suggesting that these two factors will interact and affect species in ways that are unpredictable from single-factor experiments. We will utilize an ongoing climate change experiment in northern Minnesota (B4WarmED), while also expanding aspects of this long-term experiment to the Rider University campus in New Jersey. While prior research at the B4WarmED experiment has observed positive effects of warming on plant physiology and growth of some species (e.g., sugar maple, bur oak), it is predicted that a reduced water supply will offset these positive effects and lead to more negative plant responses. The proposed project will quantify leaf physiological traits (e.g., photosynthesis, water potential) using both in situ and laboratory-grown seedlings, which have been shown in prior studies to be highly predictive of plant growth strategies and/or mortality responses in different environments. Results from this project will be published in scholarly journals, disseminated at regional and international conferences, and integrated into undergraduate courses at Rider University.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.