Resource Storage in Alpine Plants

为了更好地了解植物的贮藏过程， PI将研究在生态系统中进化的植物， 这种存储显然是有用的。 高山环境是一个 存在这样的条件。 高山植物提供了独特的 研究资源储存的优势和成本的机会 到植物 PI将使用高山植物作为模型系统， 把存储作为一种普遍现象来研究。 这项研究将产生新的 关于储存如何有利于这些植物生长的信息， 它的成本是在未来的增长方面，以及植物如何进行 在土壤微生物利用的竞争环境中储存 同样的资源。 本提案中所涉及的问题包括： 几个实际的影响。 首先，通过研究植物生存 在恶劣的生态系统中，PI将学习适应性， 可能对农业系统中的植物有用。 二是 对土壤氮素转化的基本了解可以 在农业生态系统中的实际应用。 最后 所制定的方法将提供关于下列进程的有用信息： 高山生态系统，这一地区可能很容易受到 全球变暖和其他气候变化。

To gain a better understanding of the storage process in plants, the PIs will study plants that have evolved in an ecosystem in which storage is obviously useful. The alpine environment is one in which such a condition exists. Alpine plants provide unique opportunities to study the advantages and costs of resource storage to plants. The PIs will use alpine plants as model systems to study storage as a general phenomenon. The study will yield new information on how storage benefits growth of these plants, what its costs are in terms of future growth, and how plants can conduct storage in a competitive environment where soil microorganisms use the same resources. The questions addressed in this proposal have several practical implications. First, by studying plant survival in harsh ecosystems, the PIs will learn about adaptations that could be useful for plants in agricultural systems. Second, a basic understanding of soil nitrogen transformations can have a practical application in agricultural ecosystems. Finally, the approach developed will provide useful information on processes in alpine ecosystems, an area that may prove quite susceptible to global warming and other climate changes.