An ecological perspective on terrestrial biogeosciences

陆地生物地球科学的生态视角

• 批准号: RGPIN-2015-06725
• 负责人: Bradley, Robert
• 金额: $ 4.37万
• 依托单位: Université de Sherbrooke
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2016-01-01 至 2017-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=614320
• 关键词: ecological; perspective; terrestrial; biogeosciences

One of the great challenges facing Canadians is predicting how global environmental changes and/or alternative land management practices affect the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems and the myriad of services that they provide. Focusing on the biotic controls over carbon and nutrient cycling is a promising way to tackle this challenge. Several scientific disciplines may be applied to this end, each offering different insights and explanatory models for a given phenomenon. My own academic training is well-ensconced in the biogeosciences (i.e. BSc in agricultural soil science; PhD in forest nutrient cycling; Postdoc in forest soil management). But since moving to Sherbrooke 16 y ago, I have integrated a group of fundamental ecologists who have instilled into me a complementary outlook on carbon and nutrient cycling. My students and I thus foster a dual perspective on terrestrial ecosystems that allows us to address both mechanistic and theoretical questions. As biogeoscientists, we study processes and mechanisms that are the proximate factors driving terrestrial nutrient cycles. As ecologists, we advance and rely upon theoretical frameworks to understand the evolutionary implications of these same phenomena, as well as to speculate, generalize and make bold predictions. Simply put, as biogeoscientists we often ask “how” do certain phenomena occur; as ecologists, we often ask “why” do they occur. This DG proposal is predicated on the belief that substantial knowledge and technologies can be achieved by shedding an ecological perspective on terrestrial biogeosciences. Within this structure, my students and I will explore 4 research themes: (i) root-priming effects (RPE) on soil organic matter (SOM) decomposition, (ii) the effects of global environmental changes on biological N fixation (BNF) in boreal forests, (iii) causes and consequences of plant–arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) community structure, and (iv) near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to map the nutritional quality of landscapes for large herbivores. This transdisciplinary research program will contribute important and fundamental knowledge on community assembly and the biotic controls over carbon and nutrient cycling, will increase our ability to predict the impacts of global environmental changes and land management, and develop a new tool for monitoring the food landscape for herbivores.

加拿大人面临的一个重大挑战是预测全球环境变化和/或替代性土地管理做法如何影响陆地生态系统的运作及其提供的各种服务。关注碳和养分循环的生物控制是应对这一挑战的一个有希望的方法。为此，可以应用几个科学学科，每个学科都为特定现象提供不同的见解和解释模型。我自己的学术训练是在生态科学（即农业土壤科学学士学位;森林养分循环博士学位;森林土壤管理博士后）。但自从16年前搬到舍布鲁克以来，我已经融入了一群基础生态学家，他们向我灌输了关于碳和营养循环的互补观点。因此，我和我的学生培养了对陆地生态系统的双重视角，使我们能够解决机械和理论问题。作为地球科学家，我们研究的过程和机制是驱动陆地养分循环的直接因素。作为生态学家，我们推进并依赖理论框架来理解这些相同现象的进化含义，以及推测，概括和做出大胆的预测。简单地说，作为生态科学家，我们经常问某些现象是“如何”发生的;作为生态学家，我们经常问它们为什么会发生。总干事的这一建议是基于这样一种信念，即通过摆脱对陆地生态科学的生态观点，可以获得大量的知识和技术。在这个结构中，我和我的学生将探索4个研究主题：（i）根启动效应（RPE）对土壤有机质（SOM）分解的影响;（ii）全球环境变化对北方森林生物固氮（BNF）的影响;（iii）植物-丛枝菌根（AM）群落结构的原因和后果;以及（iv）近红外光谱（NIRS）来绘制大型食草动物景观的营养质量。这个跨学科的研究计划将有助于社区组装和碳和营养循环的生物控制的重要和基础知识，将提高我们预测全球环境变化和土地管理的影响的能力，并开发一种新的工具来监测食草动物的食物景观。