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.

雪藻是一组适应于冰冻生境的光合作用微生物，是高山和极地雪域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。当雪藻在雪的顶部开花时，它们的高生物量会因为藻细胞内产生的红色保护性色素而使雪地变暗。雪藻水华增加了雪和冰川的融化，由于液态水的可获得性，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，但我们仍然不知道花朵是如何形成的。该项目通过野外和实验室实验研究雪藻生理、生长和繁殖及其环境之间的关系，从而研究雪藻水华的动态。这项研究还为一个主要是本科生的机构提供了一种新的、强大的仪器，可以同时测量藻类的光合作用和固碳作用，可以在野外使用，并促进基于野外的实验。这项研究的结果为进一步的研究建立了能力，这些研究将有助于预测未来雪藻的环境-生物相互作用。雪藻水华动力学、生命周期和环境条件之间的联系代表着在一个可处理的系统中研究生态系统对气候变暖的响应的机会。该项目为描述雪藻水华固碳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生境的生命阶段中雪藻生长和繁殖所起的基础作用的理解。拟议的野外和实验室方法将允许开发一种实验设计，以同时测量自然种群的栖息地条件、初级生产力和碳固定，并作为未来研究和继续合作的起点。雪藻系统提供了一个机会来研究下个世纪受到严重栖息地丧失威胁的环境中气候生态系统反馈的演变。这一奖项反映了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。