DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Nutrient Controls on Epiphyte Communities in Tropical Forests

氮素供应常常限制森林生产力。 固氮地衣与蓝藻光合合作伙伴（蓝藻）生长在森林冠层的附生植物有可能贡献显着数量的氮的森林，但控制其丰度的因素知之甚少。 低多样性夏威夷山地雨林的长期施肥实验表明，附生蓝藻是最丰富和多样的磷供应时，宿主树木，这表明土壤磷可能间接决定附生植物群落组成和氮输入通过冠层固氮。 研究人员将扩大这项研究，以调查土壤磷是否也控制在山上高度多样化的热带森林冠层真菌群落。位于马来西亚婆罗洲的京那巴鲁。 这项研究将有助于了解陆地土壤和冠层过程之间的联系，以及冠层固氮在整个森林养分循环中的作用。

Nitrogen supply frequently limits the forest productivity. Nitrogen-fixing lichens with a cyanobacterial photosynthetic partner (cyanolichens) growing as epiphytes in forest canopies have the potential to contribute significant amounts of nitrogen to forests, but the factors controlling their abundance are poorly understood. Long-term fertilization experiments in low-diversity Hawaiian montane rainforests indicate that epiphytic cyanolichens are most abundant and diverse when phosphorus supply to host trees is high, suggesting that soil phosphorus may indirectly determine epiphyte community composition and nitrogen inputs via canopy nitrogen fixation. The investigator will expand this research to investigate whether soil phosphorus also controls canopy epiphyte communities in highly diverse tropical forests on Mt. Kinabalu in Malaysian Borneo. This research will contribute towards understanding both the links between terrestrial soil and canopy processes and the role of canopy nitrogen fixation in whole-forest nutrient cycles.