The plants eye view: disentangling plant-plant, plant-herbivore, and plant-soil interactions

植物视角：解开植物与植物、植物与食草动物以及植物与土壤的相互作用

• 批准号: RGPIN-2020-04222
• 负责人: Lamb, Eric
• 金额: $ 3.42万
• 依托单位: University of Saskatchewan
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2020-01-01 至 2021-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=716845
• 关键词: plants; eye; view; disentangling; plant

My research program investigates the causal linkages between plant and soil community diversity. My most recent work focuses on how plant-plant interactions, particularly the negative interactions where an invasive species replaces a native species, structure plant and soil communities. In this granting cycle, I will expand my program scope to examine herbivory impacts on plant-soil interactions. Herbivore-plant-soil linkages have historically been notoriously difficult to disentangle because the strength and direction of plant-soil feedbacks are modified by multi-way interactions among the plant species and abiotic conditions. While we know that these mechanisms can separately be important forces structuring plant and soil community diversity and function, the relative importance of these mechanisms have rarely been investigated in a single natural community. My specific objectives for this granting cycle are to: 1. measure the long-term impacts of cattle grazing on fescue grassland plant and soil community structure, 2. evaluate the relative importance of grazing induced changes in root biomass allocation and root exudate profiles, 3. examine how the known long-term impacts of plant invasion arise from short-term herbivore-plant-soil processes operating at the moment of invasion. My research program is important because, while large mammal herbivory is known to structure plant-soil relationships, few studies have by attempted to disentangle the roles of direct plant-plant interactions and abiotic conditions from herbivory impacts. My research program will be among the first to investigate how herbivory interacts with plant-plant and environmental drivers to structure plant-soil interactions. Moving from the general to specific plant-soil processes, my program will be among the first to directly observe the fine-scale belowground dynamics at the moment of a plant invasion. The focal species for this work, Smooth Brome, is one of the most problematic invasive species in prairie grasslands. The broader ecosystem processes and consequences driving Brome invasion are well understood, yet little is known about the interactions between individual Brome plants and the established native plants that Brome displaces. My work will thus be among the first to study a plant invasion from the plants eye view, examining how aboveground and belowground processes interact through the invasion process in real time.

我的研究计划调查植物和土壤群落多样性之间的因果关系。我最近的工作重点是植物与植物的相互作用，特别是入侵物种取代本地物种的负面相互作用，结构植物和土壤群落。在这个资助周期中，我将扩大我的项目范围，研究植食动物对植物-土壤相互作用的影响。众所周知，草食动物-植物-土壤之间的联系历来难以理清，因为植物-土壤反馈的强度和方向会受到植物物种和非生物条件之间多途径相互作用的影响。虽然我们知道，这些机制可以分别是重要的力量，构建植物和土壤群落的多样性和功能，这些机制的相对重要性很少被调查在一个单一的自然社区。我在这个赠款周期的具体目标是： 1.测量牛放牧对羊茅草原植物和土壤群落结构的长期影响， 2.评估放牧引起的根系生物量分配和根系分泌物分布变化的相对重要性， 3.研究如何从短期的食草动物，植物，土壤的过程中运作的入侵的时刻，植物入侵的已知的长期影响。 我的研究计划是重要的，因为，虽然大型哺乳动物草食动物是已知的结构植物-土壤的关系，很少有研究试图解开直接的植物-植物相互作用和非生物条件的作用，从草食动物的影响。我的研究项目将是最早研究食草动物如何与植物-植物和环境驱动因素相互作用以构建植物-土壤相互作用的项目之一。从一般到具体的植物-土壤过程，我的计划将是第一个直接观察植物入侵时精细尺度地下动态的计划。这项工作的重点物种，光滑雀麦，是一个最有问题的入侵物种在草原草原。更广泛的生态系统过程和后果驱动雀麦入侵是很好的理解，但很少有人知道个别雀麦植物和建立本地植物之间的相互作用，雀麦取代。因此，我的工作将是第一个从植物的角度研究植物入侵的工作，研究地上和地下过程如何在真实的时间内通过入侵过程相互作用。