SitS: Leveraging spectroscopy and in situ soil sensing for the prediction of keystone soil microbial functions

土壤是地球上第二大碳库，真菌和细菌等土壤微生物是土壤中固碳量的关键决定因素。由于固碳量相对较小的变化就会影响大气中二氧化碳的含量，因此土壤微生物有可能缓解或加剧气候变化。目前碳固存的生物地球化学模型没有充分考虑土壤微生物活性，该研究小组将使用最近开发的传感器来探索土壤微生物对不同生态系统中碳动态的作用。 更具体地说，该项目将实施新的低成本和高效的土壤传感平台，以促进从美国大陆收集的数千个样品中快速估计微生物功能，以改善对未来土壤碳储存的预测。该项目的其他更广泛的影响包括体验式学习机会，在土壤生态学的高中学生在整个威斯康星州，以及机会，为年轻学者在计算机科学开发互动游戏有关土壤传感，微生物功能，和土壤地球化学建模。该奖项是通过“土壤中的信号（SitS）”征集，国家科学基金会和美国农业部国家粮食和农业研究所之间的合作伙伴关系（美国农业部NIFA）这项研究将通过定义可用于估计与土壤碳相关的微生物功能的光谱和微生物参数的简约集来改变对动态土壤过程的理解在自然和管理系统中的动态。跨学科的方法，整合土壤传感，机械工程，代谢组学，微生物学和土壤地球化学将被用来揭示新的原位土壤传感数据，土壤光谱和关键微生物功能，与土壤固碳之间的关系。该项目将测试一种假设，即结合中红外光谱和新型原位土壤传感技术，可以彻底改变对区域和大陆尺度关键微生物过程的理解，并改进下一代碳固存的生物地球化学模型。为了验证这一假设，该团队将整合来自两个长期数据源的田间和土壤光谱观测，即国家生态观测站网络站点和威斯康星州的种植系统试验，以及对土壤碳组分，微生物活性和代谢物变异性的实验室估计，以量化土壤传感技术预测土壤微生物功能的能力，从而推动土壤碳封存。此外，该奖项反映了NSF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。

Soil represents the second largest pool of carbon on Earth, and soil microbes like fungi and bacteria are key determinants of the amount of carbon sequestered in soil. Because relatively small changes in the amount of carbon sequestered can affect the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, soil microbes have the potential to mitigate or exacerbate climate change. Current biogeochemical models of carbon sequestration do not adequately incorporate soil microbial activity and this research team will use recently developed sensors to explore the role of soil microbes to carbon dynamics in diverse ecosystems. More specifically, this project will implement novel low-cost and efficient soil sensing platforms to facilitate the rapid estimation of microbial functions from thousands of samples collected across space and time in the continental US to improve predictions of future storage of soil carbon. Additional broader impacts of this project include experiential learning opportunities in soil ecology for high school students across Wisconsin as well as opportunities for young scholars in computer science to develop interactive games about soil sensing, microbial functions, and biogeochemical modeling. This award was made through the "Signals in the Soil (SitS)" solicitation, a collaborative partnership between the National Science Foundation and the United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA NIFA).This research will transform understanding of dynamic soil processes by defining parsimonious sets of spectral and microbial parameters that can be used to estimate microbial functions associated with soil carbon dynamics in both natural and managed systems. Interdisciplinary approaches to integrate soil sensing, mechanical engineering, metabolomics, microbiology, and biogeochemistry will be used to uncover relationships between novel in situ soil sensing data, soil spectra, and key microbial functions that are associated with soil carbon sequestration. The project will test the hypothesis that combined mid-infrared spectroscopic and novel in situ soil sensing technology can revolutionize understanding of key microbial processes at regional and continental scales and improve next generation biogeochemical models of carbon sequestration. To test this hypothesis, the team will integrate field and soil spectral observations from two long-term data sources, National Ecological Observatory Network sites and a cropping systems trial in Wisconsin, with lab estimations of soil carbon fractions, microbial activity, and metabolite variability to quantify the capacity of soil sensing technology to predict soil microbial functions that drive soil carbon sequestration. In addition, the resulting dataset that will be made available to the research community to address future questions.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.