International Research Fellowship Program: Effects of Soils and Precipitation on Plant and Ecosystem Traits in South African Savanna

0301834 CraineThe国际研究奖学金计划使美国科学家和工程师能够在国外进行三到二十四个月的研究。 该计划的奖项提供了联合研究的机会，以及使用独特或互补的设施，专业知识和国外的实验条件。该奖项将支持约瑟夫·克莱恩博士与南非开普敦大学的威廉·邦德博士和明尼苏达大学的彼得·赖希博士进行为期18个月的研究奖学金。该项目将联合收割机广泛结合-在克鲁格国家公园，对几种根和茎的特性（化学、稳定同位素和组织密度）进行了规模调查，以确定土壤类型和年降水量的大梯度。 非洲某些地区潮湿的草原上的动物群落并没有像其他大陆那样枯竭。 沿着克鲁格的降水梯度，PI将表征各种各样的草本植物的根和叶的特征，以及表征草原的氮循环及其对N和P施肥的响应。 这些研究可以作为一个有用的模型系统，了解草地放牧相互作用和生态系统功能的基本驱动程序。 理解为什么食草动物在干燥的草原（和某些土壤类型）达到最高丰度的关键，需要理解根和叶的结构和功能，放牧和营养循环之间的关系。 除了了解非洲放牧生态系统本身的重要性之外，由于北美许多人试图将野牛、麋鹿、马和其他物种重新引入北美大平原地区，因此首先了解仍然有完整的食草动物的草原的功能是很重要的。

0301834CraineThe International Research Fellowship Program enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct three to twenty-four months of research abroad. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions abroad.This award will support an eighteen month research fellowship by Dr. Joseph Craine to work with Dr. William Bond at the University of Cape Town in South Africa and with Dr. Peter Reich at the University of Minnesota.This project will combine broad-scale surveys of several root and shoot traits (chemical, stable isotope and tissue densities) to relate to large gradients in soil type and annual precipitation in the Kruger National Park. The humid grasslands in some parts of Africa have a faunal assemblage that has not been depleted like on other continents. Along broad precipitation gradients in Kruger, the PI will characterize traits of roots and leaves of a wide variety of herbaceous species as well as to characterize the nitrogen cycles of the grasslands and their responses to N and P fertilization. These studies may serve as a useful model system for understanding the basic drivers of grassland-grazer interactions and ecosystem function. The key to understanding why grazers reach their highest abundance in the drier grasslands (and on certain soil types) requires understanding relationships among the construction and functioning of roots and leaves, grazing, and nutrient cycling. Aside from the importance of understanding the African grazing ecosystems in and of themselves, as many in North America seek to reintroduce bison, elk, horses and other species to areas of the Great Plains of North America, it is important to first understand the functioning of grasslands that still have a full complement of grazers.