NSF PRFB FY23: Temperature effects on community assembly: a case study in nectar microbes of a western north American native plant

该行动资助了美国国家科学基金会2023财年生物学博士后研究奖学金，研究基因组，环境和表型之间相互作用的生命规则的综合研究。该奖学金支持将以创新方式对生活规则领域作出贡献的研究员的研究和培训。尽管有气候变化的威胁，但温度对主要生态过程的影响仍未得到很好的理解。群落组装是生物和非生物因素相互作用的过程，产生了组成群落的一组物种。本研究旨在了解温度与群落聚集之间的联系。该项目将结合实验和理论方法。该模型系统由北美本土植物马先蒿及其花蜜微生物组成。花和花蜜开始于一个无菌的环境。随着时间的推移，微生物通过昆虫和鸟类等传粉媒介到达。该项目的第一个目标是测量花蜜微生物对温度的反应。然后，将在实验室和现场进行社区组装研究。该项目还将为温度对社区聚集的影响发展新的理论。生命史性状的温度响应在许多生命形式中是保守的。因此，对花蜜微生物的研究可以为了解气候变化对其他群落的影响提供见解。花蜜微生物群落由一小部分细菌和酵母菌组成。它们可以被培养，并在实验室环境中对其数量进行量化。这使它们成为解决气候变化对社区集会影响的理想系统。该项目将首先测量生长速率的热反应规范。增长率将根据死亡和出生进行量化，目的是为每个物种建立一个参数化模型。该项目的第二阶段包括通过在实验室和现场建立不同温度制度下的实验社区来研究组装的结果。实验数据将用于计算物种之间的相互作用强度，并建立一个包含温度的群落聚集的理论模型。最后，研究了不同花蜜群落对密草木传粉偏好和繁殖力的影响。该研究员将获得细菌方法、分子技术和数学建模方面的专业知识。这个项目更广泛的影响包括促进本科生的研究经验，以及开发使用R模拟学习生态模型的研讨会。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。

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2023, Integrative Research Investigating the Rules of Life Governing Interactions Between Genomes, Environment, and Phenotypes. The fellowship supports research and training of the fellow that will contribute to the area of Rules of Life in innovative ways. Despite the threat of climate change, the effects of temperature on major ecological processes are still not well understood. Community assembly is a process in which biotic and abiotic factors interact, giving rise to the group of species that make up a community. This research aims to understand the link between temperature and community assembly. The project will combine experimental and theoretical methods. The model system consists of the native North American plant Pedicularis densiflora and its nectar microbes. Flowers and their nectar begin as a sterile environment. Over time, microorganisms arrive, transported by pollinators like insects and birds. The first goal of this project is to measure the temperature responses of nectar microbes. Then, community assembly in the laboratory and the field will be studied. The project will also develop new theory for the effects of temperature on community assembly. The temperature responses of life history traits are conserved among many life forms. Therefore, studies on nectar microbes can provide insights about the effects of climate change in other communities. Nectar microbe communities consist of a small set of bacteria and yeast species. They can be cultured, and their populations quantified in laboratory settings. This makes them an ideal system to disentangle the effects of climate change on community assembly. The project will first measure thermal reaction norms of growth rate. Growth rate will be quantified in terms of death and birth with the goal of building a parameterized model for each species. The second phase of this project involves studying the outcomes of assembly by building experimental communities in the lab and in the field subject to different temperature regimes. The experimental data will be used to calculate interaction strengths between species and build a theoretical model for community assembly that incorporates temperature. Finally, the consequences of different nectar communities on pollination preference and fecundity of P. densiflora will be studied. The fellow will gain expertise in bacterial methods, molecular techniques, and mathematical modeling. Broader impacts of this project include facilitating research experiences for undergraduates and developing workshops on the use of simulations in R to learn ecological models.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.