COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Can microbial symbiosis mediate effects of climate change on the functioning of an ecosystem engineer?

该奖项由2009年《美国复苏和再投资法案》(公法111-5)资助。要准确预测社区和生态系统对气候变化的反应，不仅需要确定气候变化对物种的直接影响，而且还需要确定通过生物相互作用或由于物种对环境的影响而产生的间接影响。对于改变自然栖息地结构的物种来说，这些间接影响可能特别重要。对于植物来说，微生物共生体在调节植物对气候变化的反应方面具有很强的潜力。该项目将比较非生物控制和生物控制在五大湖沙丘系统中改变其环境的方式上的相对重要性。短脉沙棘在沙丘演替的早期阶段通过大量的根系生产来稳定流动的沙子，因此被认为是一种重要的生态工程。气候变化导致的夏季干旱增加，可能会降低短吻沙棘固沙和稳定沙丘的能力。然而，短梗沙打旺在叶中含有共生真菌内生菌，在根中含有丛枝菌根真菌，这可能会提高植物的抗旱性，改变根构型，从而提高土壤稳定性。这项研究结合了实验室和野外实验以及广泛的地理调查，将测试微生物共生是否可以调节气候变化对生态系统工程师功能的影响。这项工作将增加对非农艺植物共生体的了解，直接应用于改善五大湖和大西洋海岸的沙丘恢复，以及管理西海岸的短冠沙棘入侵种群。代表不足的少数族裔将通过NSF AGEP计划招募，为EPSCoR州的经济困难学生提供研究经验。还将通过提供高中生研究机会和举办全国教师讲习班来加强K-12教育。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).Accurate predictions of community and ecosystem responses to climate change will require identifying not only the direct effects of altered climate on species, but also the indirect effects that occur through biotic interactions or as a result of species impacts on the environment. Those indirect effects may be particularly important for species that modify physical habitat structure. For plants, microbial symbionts have strong potential to mediate plant responses to climate change. This project will compare the relative importance of abiotic and biotic controls on the ways that Ammophila breviligulata (American beach grass) modifies its environment in Great Lakes dune systems. Ammophila breviligulata stabilizes moving sand through prolific root production during the early stages of dune succession, and thus is considered an important ecosystem engineer. Increased summer droughts resulting from climate change may reduce the capacity of A. breviligulata to bind sand and stabilize dunes. However, A. breviligulata hosts a symbiotic fungal endophyte in its leaves and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in its roots, which may improve tolerance to drought, alter root architecture, and thus enhance soil stability. Using a combination of lab and field experiments and broad geographic surveys, this study will test whether a microbial symbiosis can mediate effects of climate change on the functioning of an ecosystem engineer. This work will increase knowledge of non-agronomic plant symbionts, with direct application for improving dune restorations in the Great Lakes and Atlantic Coast, as well as for managing invasive populations of A. breviligulata on the West Coast. Underrepresented minorities will be recruited through the NSF AGEP program, providing research experiences for economically disadvantaged students in an EPSCoR state. K-12 education will also be enhanced by providing high school student research opportunities and a national teacher workshop.