Dissertation Research: Nitrogen Supply and Root Dynamics: A Plant Strategy Approach

植物生态学家仍然不确定植物是如何生长的，很大程度上是因为关于根系的数据很少。我们对植物生长以及植物如何与环境相互作用缺乏了解，这损害了我们预测全球变化影响的能力，包括大气二氧化碳浓度升高和氮沉积。该研究项目旨在测量植物在地上和地下生长的重要特征，以及这些特征与生态系统过程（如土壤中营养物质的命运）的关系。测量方法包括使用视频技术对地下根系进行成像，以便量化一年中何时产生根系以及根系的寿命，并测量活根和死根对生态系统中硝酸盐（一种无机形式的氮，是地下水的一种常见污染物）潴留的影响。

98-01244 Chapin/Craine DDIG: Nitrogen supply and root dynamics: A plant strategy approach Plant ecologists are still not sure how plants grow, largely because little data has been collected regarding roots. Our lack of knowledge about plant growth and how plants interact with their environment compromises our ability to predict the effects of global change, including elevated atmospheric CO2 concentrations and nitrogen deposition. This research project is designed to measure characteristics that are important in the above- and belowground growth of plants, and the relationship of these traits to ecosystem processes such as the fate of nutrients in the soil. Measurements include using video technology to image roots belowground in order to quantify when roots are produced in the year and how long a root lives, and measuring the influence of the live and dead roots on the ecosystem's retention of nitrate, an inorganic form of nitrogen that is a common pollutant of groundwater.