MRI: ACQUISITION OF A CHN ELEMENTAL ANALYZER FOR RESEARCH IN PLANT AND ECOSYSTEM ECOLOGY BY FACULTY AND UNDERGRADUATES AT CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY

主要研究仪器奖的资金将用于购买碳-氢-氮（CHN）元素分析仪，用于加州橙子的本科服务机构查普曼大学的师生进行植物和生态系统生态学研究。 碳和氮是许多重要生态过程的关键元素，从植物对环境的反应到生态系统中微生物分解和土壤形成的速度。 通过师生合作，CHN元素分析仪最初将用于探索三个生态研究项目中的碳和氮动态。 (1)南加州沿海沼泽地通过沉积物沉积的碳和氮的固存。 这项工作将探讨盐沼土壤中的沉积动力学和碳氮固存，以便更好地了解这些重要生态系统在海平面持续上升的情况下的命运。 (2)叶氮分配在凋落物分解中的重要性。 该项目旨在阐明叶片氮库之间的联系（例如，核酸、氨基酸、可溶性蛋白质）和凋落物分解速率。 (3)整合植物对水分有效性变化的生化、生理和形态反应。 这项工作将确定植物物种如何对降水事件的强度和时间变化做出不同的反应，以及这些反应如何与植物fitness. CHN元素分析仪的获得将促进查普曼大学的研究，教学和推广，让学生和当地教育工作者获得生态研究中常用的仪器的实践经验。 特别是，该工具将增加教师奖学金，并创造新的机会，为学生教师指导与本科合作者的多元化群体。 CHN元素分析仪还将增加学生和教师以及当地高中和社区大学教师使用现代研究仪器的机会。 通过指导学生的研究和纳入新的和现有的课程，这种仪器将促进教育在研究密集型的环境，并准备我们的学生未来的科学生涯。

Funds from this Major Research Instrumentation award will be used to purchase a carbon-hydrogen-nitrogen (CHN) elemental analyzer for research in plant and ecosystem ecology by faculty and students at Chapman University, an undergraduate serving institution in Orange, California. Carbon and nitrogen are key elements in a number of important ecological processes ranging from plant responses to the environment to rates of microbial decomposition and soil formation in ecosystems. Through student-faculty collaborations, the CHN elemental analyzer will initially be utilized to explore carbon and nitrogen dynamics in three ecological research programs. (1) Carbon and nitrogen sequestration through sediment deposition in coastal marshes in Southern California. This work will explore sedimentation dynamics and sequestration of carbon and nitrogen in salt marsh soils in order to better understand the fate of these important ecosystems in the face of ongoing sea level rise. (2) The importance of leaf nitrogen allocation in litter decomposition. This project aims to elucidate the links between leaf nitrogen pools (e.g., nucleic acids, amino acids, soluble proteins) and rates of litter decomposition. (3) Integrating biochemical, physiological and morphological responses of plants to changes in water availability. This work will determine how plant species differentially respond to changes in the intensity and timing of precipitation events and how these responses relate to plant fitness.The acquisition of a CHN elemental analyzer will facilitate research, teaching and outreach at Chapman University by allowing students and local educators to gain hands-on experience with an instrument commonly used in ecological research. In particular, the instrument will increase faculty scholarship and create new opportunities for student-faculty mentorship with a diverse group of undergraduate collaborators. The CHN elemental analyzer will also increase access to modern research instrumentation for student and faculty as well as local high school and community college instructors. Through mentored student research and inclusion into new and existing curricula, this instrumentation will facilitate education in a research-intensive environment and prepare our students for future scientific careers.