EAPSI: Combining Observational and Experimental Approaches to Understand the Response of Belowground Fungal Communities to Global Change

该项目旨在了解地上和地下社区相互作用的变化如何改变生态系统功能。作为一个例子，丛枝菌根（AM）是植物互惠分子，有助于维持植物功能，特别是在环境胁迫下。对菌根真菌的大规模多样性模式知之甚少，这阻碍了我们预测社区如何应对气候变化的能力。该项目将采用观察和实验方法，探索气候变化和物种相互作用如何改变全球几个地点的菌根群落结构和生态系统功能。这项工作将与北京大学的何金生博士合作进行，他是气候变化和生态系统生态学的世界权威。为了了解地上和地下群落将如何应对气候变暖，本研究将使用一系列观察地块以及操纵性变暖（环境温度+2.5度）×优势植物物种去除（以重组植物群落）实验沿着海拔梯度。本研究将试图回答两个主要问题：（1）什么生物和非生物因素结构丛枝菌根群落沿着海拔梯度，以及（2）这些社区将如何应对变暖和植物群落的变化。通过结合世界各地的不同地点，该项目将能够了解全球目前和未来植物/菌根分布的共同模式。NSF EAPSI奖是与中国科技部合作资助的。

This project aims to understand how changes in community interactions above- and below-ground alter ecosystem function. As an example, Arbuscular mycorrhizae (AM) are plant mutualists that help maintain plant function, especially under environmental stress. Little is known about broad-scale diversity patterns of mycorrhizal fungi, which hinders our ability to predict how communities will respond to climatic change. Using an observational and experimental approach this project will explore how climatic change and species interactions alter mycorrhizal community structure and ecosystem function at several sites worldwide. This work will be conducted in collaboration with Dr. Jin-Sheng He at Peking University, a world authority in climate change and ecosystem ecology. To understand how above- and below-ground communities will respond to climatic warming, this study will use a series of observational plots as well as a manipulative warming (+2.5 degrees ambient temperature) × dominant plant species removal (to restructure plant communities) experiment along elevational gradients. This study will attempt to answer two main questions: (1) What biotic and abiotic factors structure arbuscular mycorrhizal communities along elevational gradients, and (2) how will these communities respond to warming and changes in plant communities. By combining different sites worldwide, this project will be able to understand common patterns in current and future plant/mycorrhizal distributions worldwide. This NSF EAPSI award is funded in collaboration with the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology.