Collaborative Research: Identifying Ecosystem Controls on Biodiversity: A U.S. and U.K. Project

土壤是自然和人工管理的陆地生态系统中大多数生态系统过程的关键和动态中心。 虽然土壤群落通常被认为调节许多这些过程（例如分解，养分循环），但令人惊讶的是，影响土壤群落结构和功能的因素的数据很少，或者土壤生物多样性与生态系统功能的关系。 该项目的核心问题是：（A）植物如何影响地下生物多样性？（B）土壤生物多样性对生态系统过程有何影响？ 将使用具体的假设和操纵性田间实验来测试对土壤群落结构和多样性的控制。 在试验中要检查的对照，以测试对土壤群落结构和多样性的控制。 在实验中要检查的控制包括植物物种多样性，植物功能多样性（C3与C4物种），资源质量，净初级生产力和土壤非生物特性。田间试验将测试土壤生物多样性对均质和非均质基质分解的影响。 主要实验将在Konza草原长期生态研究场址进行，该场址拥有关于生态系统特性、土壤过程和土壤无脊椎动物的大量背景资料。 在整个实验过程中，将以精细的分类学分辨率对草原生态系统功能中已知重要的目标土壤无脊椎动物群落进行分析。 在雪松溪自然历史区LTER站点的一次性采样也将为土壤线虫多样性跟踪植物生物多样性的假设提供额外的测试。 这些研究将成为与英国草原场地合作和协调努力的基础（由UK-NERC资助的平行提案）。 生态系统科学家和无脊椎动物分类学家之间的伙伴关系，在比较美国和英国的实地实验将提供一个独特的contrib ution确定影响地下生物多样性和生态系统功能的因素的相对重要性。 在美国KNZ LTER网站的模拟建模将被用来合成，解释和探索土壤生物多样性的控制和后果的性质，然后与英国网站的参数进行比较。

Soils are the critical and dynamic center for the majority of ecosystem processes in both natural and managed terrestrial ecosystems. Although soil communities generally are thought to regulate many of these processes (e.g. decomposition, nutrient cycling), there are suprisingly little data on the factors that affect soil community structure and function, or the relation of soil biodiversity to ecosystem function. Central questions of this project are: (A) How do plants influence belowground biodiversity? and (B) What are the consequences of soil biodiversity to ecosystem processes? Specific hypotheses and manipulative field experiments will be used to test controls on soil community structure and diversity. The controls to be examined in the experiments to test controls on soil community structure and diversity. The controls to be examined in the experiments include plant species diversity, plant functional diversity (C3 vs. C4 species), resource quality, net primary productivity, and soil abiotic characteristics. Field experiments will test the effects of soil biodiversity on the decomposition of homogeneous and heterogeneous substrates. Main experiments will be at the Konza Prairie Long-Term Ecological Research (KNZ LTER) site, a site with substantial background information on ecosystem properties, soil processes and soil invertebrates. Analysis of targeted soil invertebrate communities known to be important in ecosystem function in grasslands will be examined at a fine taxonomic resolution throughout the experiment. A one time sampling at the Cedar Creek Natural History Area LTER site will also provide an additional test of the hypothesis that soil nematode diversity tracks plant biodiversity. The studies will form the basis for a collaborative and coordinated effort with a grasslands site in the UK (parallel proposal funded by UK-NERC). The partnership between ecosystem scientist and invertebrate taxonomists in the comparative US-UK field experiments will provide a unique contrib ution determining the relative importance of factors affecting belowground biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Simulation modeling at the USA KNZ LTER site will be used to synthesize, interpret and explore the nature of controls and consequences of soil biodiversity, and then to compare with parameters of the UK site.