MCA: Environmental Drivers of Snow Algae Bloom Dynamics, Physiology, and Life-Cycles

MCA：雪藻大量繁殖的环境驱动因素、生理学和生命周期

• 批准号: 2222220
• 负责人: Robin Kodner
• 金额: $ 24.84万
• 依托单位: Western Washington University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-02-01 至 2026-01-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2222220&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: MCA; Environmental; Drivers; Snow; Algae

Snow algae, a group of photosynthetic microorganisms that are adapted to live in frozen habitats, are the major group of primary producers in alpine and polar snow ecosystems. These organisms have complex life cycles intimately connected to environmental conditions and seasonal habitat transformations. When snow algae bloom on the top of snow, their high biomass darkens snowfields due to red-colored protective pigments produced inside the algal cells. Snow algae blooms increase melting of snow and glaciers, promoting more growth due to the availability of liquid water, and resulting in a positive feedback loop. Despite their ecological importance, we still do not know how blooms form. This project is studying the dynamics of snow algae blooms by addressing the relationships between snow algae physiology, growth and reproduction, and their environment using field and laboratory-based experiments. This research is also providing a primarily undergraduate institution with a new, powerful instrument for simultaneously measuring photosynthesis and carbon fixation in algae that can be used in the field and facilitate field-based experiments. The results of this study build capacity for further studies that will help predict snow algal environment-biology interactions into the future.The connection between snow algal bloom dynamics, life cycle, and environmental conditions represents an opportunity to study ecosystem responses to climate warming in a tractable system. This project lays the foundation for characterizing the fundamentals of carbon fixation and primary productivity in snow algal blooms. It also increases our understanding of the fundamental role that snow algae physiology plays in the growth and reproduction of snow algae across life stages adapted to different habitats. The proposed field and laboratory methods will allow the development of an experimental design to simultaneously measure habitat conditions, primary productivity, and carbon fixation in natural populations and serves as a launch point for future studies and continued collaboration. The snow algal system presents an opportunity to study the evolution of climate-ecosystem feedbacks in environments threatened by significant habitat loss over the next century.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.

雪藻是一种适应生活在冰冻栖息地的光合微生物，是高山和极地雪生态系统的主要初级生产者。这些生物具有复杂的生命周期，与环境条件和季节性栖息地变化密切相关。当雪藻在雪上繁殖时，由于藻细胞内产生的红色保护色素，它们的高生物量使雪原变暗。雪藻的大量繁殖加速了雪和冰川的融化，由于液态水的可用性，促进了更多的生长，并导致了一个正反馈循环。尽管它们在生态上很重要，但我们仍然不知道它们是如何形成的。本项目通过野外和实验室实验，研究雪藻的生理、生长和繁殖及其环境之间的关系，研究雪藻华的动力学。这项研究还为一个主要的本科院校提供了一种新的，强大的仪器，可以同时测量藻类的光合作用和碳固定，可以在现场使用，并促进现场实验。这项研究的结果为进一步的研究建立了能力，这将有助于预测未来雪藻与生物的相互作用。雪藻华动态、生命周期和环境条件之间的联系为在一个可处理的系统中研究生态系统对气候变暖的响应提供了机会。该项目为表征雪藻华的碳固定和初级生产力的基本原理奠定了基础。这也增加了我们对雪藻生理在适应不同栖息地的雪藻生长和繁殖过程中所起的基本作用的理解。拟议的实地和实验室方法将允许开发一种实验设计，同时测量自然种群的栖息地条件、初级生产力和碳固定，并作为未来研究和持续合作的起点。雪藻系统提供了一个机会来研究气候-生态系统反馈在未来一个世纪受到严重栖息地丧失威胁的环境中的演变。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。