OPUS: Trophic Interactions, Plant Quality, and the Integration of Above and Belowground Processes

植物、动物和微生物的物理结构和化学成分等特征各不相同。这种变异之所以重要，是因为它影响了有机体之间的相互作用，以及它们如何影响周围的环境。植物就是一个很好的例子，因为它们的结构和组织的化学成分都有很大的不同。例如，这就是为什么人类可以吃玉米，但不能吃橡树叶。植物质量的差异决定了哪些组织可以吃，谁可以吃。陆地上的所有动物和微生物要么以植物组织为食，要么以其他生物为食。因此，植物组织质量的变化是陆地生态过程的核心。植物品质可以影响两种生态过程。首先，植物化学影响食草动物和捕食者的生长和丰度。其次，植物化学会影响土壤中氮、磷等养分的利用率。因此，植物化学将地上过程(如食草动物)与地下过程(如养分的可获得性)联系起来。这里的一个关键点是，这些链接是动态的。当食草动物咀嚼树叶时，树叶的化学成分会发生变化，影响土壤中养分的有效性。相反，土壤养分会影响植物的化学成分，从而影响食草动物和捕食者之间的相互作用。这些是将地上和地下的生态过程联系在一起的关键反馈途径。拟议的工作将结合国际和平研究所25多年来对这一主题的研究。通过综合和整合许多环境(森林、草原、沙漠、农田)的工作，PI将有助于统一对地上和地下生态过程的研究，并检查生境之间的共同特征。将为未来的工作开发一个新的合成框架，将不同规模的生态过程联系起来。合成将以成册出版，供生态学研究人员和学生广泛使用。将强调与具有社会重要性的问题的联系，包括作物病虫害管理、入侵物种管理和保护生物学。将为研究生和本科生开发新的课程，讲习班将促进代表不足的群体的参与。

Plants, animals, and microbes vary in features such as their physical structure and their chemistry. This kind of variation in important because it influences how organisms interact with each other and how they affect the environment around them. Plants are a good example of this because they vary dramatically in their structure and in the chemistry of their tissues. This is why, for example, humans can eat corn but not oak leaves. Variation in plant quality determines what tissues can be eaten and by whom. All animals and microbes on land either consume plant tissues or consume other organisms that do. Consequently, variation in the quality of plant tissue is central to ecological processes on land. Plant quality can influence two kinds of ecological processes. First, plant chemistry influences the growth and abundance of herbivores and predators. Second, plant chemistry influences the rate at which nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus become available in the soil. Therefore, plant chemistry links processes above ground (like herbivory) with processes below ground (like nutrient availability). A critical point here is that these links are dynamic. When herbivores chew leaves, leaf chemistry changes, influencing how nutrients become available in soil. Conversely, soil nutrients influence the chemistry of plants and therefore interactions between herbivores and predators. These are key pathways of feedback that link together ecological processes above and below ground. The proposed work will integrate over 25 years of research on this topic by the PI. By synthesizing and integrating work across many environments (forests, prairie, deserts, agricultural fields), the PI will help to unify studies of ecological processes above and below ground, and examine common features among habitats. A new synthetic framework will be developed for future work that links ecological processes at different scales.The synthesis will be published in volumes broadly accessible to researchers and students of ecology. Links will be emphasized to issues of societal importance including crop pest management, invasive species management, and conservation biology. New courses will be developed for graduate and undergraduate students and workshops will foster participation by under-represented groups.