Soil invertebrates under global change

社区和生态系统正越来越多地受到全球变化的影响，但我们对陆地生态系统中这些影响的了解在很大程度上是基于地上生物。相比之下，尽管土壤具有高度的多样性，并支持许多关键的生态系统功能，如碳循环，但我们对地下的全球变化影响，特别是影响在空间和时间尺度上的变化了解有限。我的研究重点是通过结合实地观察、实验、建模和数据合成来解决我们知识中的这一差距。我在我的研究中使用蚯蚓作为模型组，因为它们扮演着生态工程师的角色，可能会对其他生物产生巨大影响，而且许多物种已经入侵了新的地区。我和我的学生将研究以下关键问题：1)土壤无脊椎动物是如何在多个空间尺度上分布的，这种分布将如何因全球变化而改变？我们将研究随着时间的推移，全球变化对蚯蚓生物多样性的影响，以及对非本地蚯蚓物种分布的影响。我们还将调查气候、栖息地和人类活动在确定非本地蚯蚓北方分布方面的相对重要性，并使用这些信息来模拟未来可能的分布。2)全球变化如何直接和间接地影响土壤中的物种相互作用和群落组成？我们将测试气候变暖导致的植物群落变化(例如，灌木扩展)如何影响北部生态系统中的土壤无脊椎动物群落和凋落物分解。3)物种分布和群落的变化如何影响生态系统的功能？我们将研究全球变化导致的土壤大型动物群落的变化如何影响微生物呼吸等生态系统功能。五名本科生、三名研究生和一名博士后研究员将在本次助学金期间接受培训。此外，公民科学项目将为公众提供直接参与这项研究的机会。这项研究的出版物将提供关于全球变化如何影响土壤群落和生态系统功能的关键见解，以及生物多样性和入侵理论如何应用于地下系统。

Communities and ecosystems are increasingly being impacted by global change but much of our understanding of these impacts in terrestrial ecosystems is based on aboveground organisms. In contrast, although soils are highly diverse and support many key ecosystem functions such as carbon cycling, we have a limited understanding of global change impacts belowground and in particular how impacts vary across spatial and temporal scales. My research focuses on addressing this gap in our knowledge using a combination of field observations, experiments, modelling, and data synthesis. I use earthworms as a model group in my research because they act as ecosystem engineers with the potential for large impacts on other organisms and because many species have invaded new regions. My students and I will investigate the following key questions: 1) How are soil invertebrates distributed across multiple spatial scales and how will this be altered by global change? We will examine effects of global change on earthworm biodiversity over time, and on distributions of non-native earthworm species. We will also investigate the relative importance of climate, habitat, and human activity in determining northern distributions of non-native earthworms and use this information to model potential future distributions. 2) How does global change directly and indirectly impact species interactions and community composition in the soil? We will test how changes in plant communities (e.g., shrub expansion) due to climate warming affect soil invertebrate communities and litter decomposition in northern ecosystems. 3) How do changes in species distributions and communities impact ecosystem functioning? We will examine how shifts in soil macrofauna communities occurring as a result of global change affect ecosystem functions such as microbial respiration. Five undergraduate students, three graduate students, and one postdoctoral fellow will be trained during the course of this grant. In addition, a citizen science project will provide the public with the opportunity to directly participate in this research. Publications from this research will provide key insights into how global change affects soil communities and ecosystem functioning, as well as how biodiversity and invasion theories apply to belowground systems.