Are there Evolutionary Consequences of Genetic-based Feedbacks between Plants and Soils?

生态系统为人类提供许多服务，包括保持土壤完整性和肥力。对于科学家来说，关于生态系统提供的服务的一个重要问题是，物种对这些服务重要吗？DNA技术的日益普及使研究人员不仅能够确定物种是否重要，而且还可以确定物种中的个体是否也对其环境产生了不同的影响？通过利用三个种植在3个不同环境中的16年生棉杨树实验园，这项研究将确定棉杨个体(基因类型)的克隆副本是否能够以独特的方式预测地影响土壤肥力。通过在温度和降雨量不同的三个不同环境中解决这个问题，可以确定单个树木与其土壤之间反馈的强度。此外，这项研究将提供气候变化如何改变这些关系的信息。预计个体无性系独特的叶和根特征将可预测地影响土壤肥力，无论环境如何，尽管这些影响的大小可能会随着气候条件的变化而不同。了解植物与土壤相互作用的遗传基础至少有两个原因：1)通过更好地了解森林物种遗传变异对生态系统服务的影响，这将导致在当前气候和未来气候情景下改进管理和保护策略；2)记录植物遗传学对土壤的影响可能有助于深入了解转基因植物的扩展影响。在研究过程中，将对研究生和本科生进行培训，并通过出版物、讲座和公共网站向科学界和公众传播研究结果。

Ecosystems provide many services to humans, including maintaining soil integrity and fertility. An important question for scientists regarding the services that ecosystems provide is "do species matter" to these services? The increasing availability of DNA technologies has allowed researchers to determine not only if species matter but also if individuals within species also differentially influence their environment? By utilizing three 16-year old experimental gardens of cottonwood trees planted in 3 different environments, this research will determine whether cloned copies of cottonwood individuals (genotypes) can predictably influence soil fertility in unique ways. By addressing this question across three different environments that vary in temperature and precipitation, the strength of the feedback between individual trees and their soils can be determined. In addition, the research will provide information on how the relationships could be modified by climate change. It is expected that unique leaf and root traits of individual clones will predictably impact soil fertility, regardless of environment, although the magnitude of these effects will likely differ as climatic conditions change.Understanding the genetic basis of interactions between plants and soils is important for at least two reasons: 1) By providing a better understanding of the effects of genetic variation in forest species on ecosystem services, it will lead to improved management and conservation strategies under the current climate and future climate scenarios; 2) Documenting the consequences of plant genetics on soils may provide insight on the extended effects of genetically modified plants. Graduate and undergraduate students will be trained in the course of this research and the results disseminated to both the scientific community and the public via publications, talks and a public website.