Below-Ground Carbon Cycling Within Demographic Associations of Collembola and Roots

9527663 SNIDER在密歇根州农业生态系统的根区弹尾虫种群的原位观察提供了可靠的证据，传统的采样方法严重低估了人口密度，不能充分记录整个根剖面的弹尾虫的垂直分布和活动。来自微视频记录的证据表明，弹尾虫的数量可达100厘米深，弹尾虫和根的人口统计学可能在空间和时间上相关。根据数据表明存在比以前估计的大得多的种群（在整个水中持续存在并活跃的种群），PI提出，弹尾虫对碳循环的影响程度也可能被低估。该项目将量化该领域的弹尾目/根协会的人口统计数据，并记录这些协会的潜在机制。此外，这项工作将评估根区跳虫活动对通过地下营养网络的碳流的潜在影响。这项工作与正在凯洛格生物站进行的NSF/LTER研究直接相关，该研究侧重于自然和管理的生态系统的生态特性，以及调节这些系统相互作用的机制。这项研究还将通过记录一个主要土壤动物组成部分的分布和活动、其与根和根际的联系性质以及其对地下营养网络内碳循环的影响程度，大大增加目前对地下相互作用的了解。

9527663 SNIDER In situ observations of collembolan populations in the root zone of Michigan agroecosystems have provided reliable evidence that conventional sampling methods severely underestimate population densities and cannot adequately document vertical distribution and activity of Collembola throughout the root profile. Evidence from microvideo recordings indicates that Collembola range to depths of 100 cm in large numbers, and that collembolan and root demographics may be correlated over space and time. Based on data which suggest the existence of much larger populations than previously estimated (populations which persist and are active throughout the water), the PIs propose that the magnitude of collembolan influence on carbon cycling may also have been underestimated. This project will quantify the demographics of Collembola / root associations in the field, and document potential mechanisms underlying these associations. In addition, the work will assess potential effects of collembolan activity in the root zone on carbon flow through below-ground trophic networks. The work is directly linked to ongoing NSF/LTER research at Kellogg Biological Station, which focuses on ecological properties of natural and managed ecosystems, and on the mechanisms which regulate interactions in these systems. The research will also add significantly to current understanding of below-ground interactions, by documenting distribution and activity of a major soil faunal component, the nature of its association with roots and rhizospheres, and the magnitude of its effect on carbon cycling within below-ground trophic networks.