NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2017: Testing the role of isoprene in tropical forest responses to climate change: a study linking biological collections to field data

本行动资助美国国家科学基金会2017年度生物学博士后研究奖学金，利用生物馆藏进行研究。该奖学金支持研究和培训将以创新的方式利用生物收集的研究员。世界森林中的树木不仅对其生长的气候作出反应，而且还通过能量、水、二氧化碳和活性微量气体的交换来调节气候。热带森林的极端多样性和偏远性使得研究它们对气候变化的脆弱性特别具有挑战性，因为这项工作往往需要复杂的仪器，而这些仪器并不适合实地调查。该奖项将支持使用定制设计的仪器测量植物园标本上的微量气体的研究，以了解叶片生理学和异戊二烯气体的产生。异戊二烯有助于树叶耐受高温和干旱，随着气候变化，这两种情况预计会在热带森林中增加。还将分析显示树木对最近气候变暖（海拔范围变化）和干旱的响应的实地数据集。作为努力的一部分，将对10年级学生小组进行生物研究方法的指导，以促进更广泛的参与。这项计划研究的目的是研究异戊二烯的生产是否会影响生物体对气候变化的适应能力。在花园环境中使用定制的气体分析仪，创造性地利用收集的标本来告知野外生物学。分析热带物种异戊二烯产量的分类分布，有望提高我们对森林动态和恢复力的理解。该研究员将利用异戊二烯生产能力、气候数据和物种范围分布等综合措施，建立一个预测框架，模拟气候变化对热带森林的影响。这些研究的结果将发表在同行评议的期刊上，并在科学会议上分享。

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2017, Research Using Biological Collections. The fellowship supports research and training of the fellow that will utilize biological collections in innovative ways. Trees of the world's forests not only respond to the climate in which they grow, but also regulate climate through the exchange of energy, water, carbon dioxide, and reactive trace-gases. The extreme diversity and remoteness of tropical forests make research on their vulnerability to climate change particularly challenging because the work often requires sophisticated instrumentation that is not well suited to fieldwork. This award will support studies using custom-designed instrumentation to measure trace gases on botanical garden specimens to understand leaf physiology and the production of isoprene gas. Isoprene helps leaves tolerate heat and drought, both of which are expected to increase in tropical forests with climate change. Field datasets showing tree responses to recent climate warming (elevation range shifts), and droughts will also be analyzed. As part of the effort, groups of 10th grade students will be mentored in biological research methods to promote broadening participation. The research aims of the planned study will address whether isoprene production impacts organismal resilience to climate change. The use of a custom gas analyzer in garden setting makes creative use of the collected specimens to inform field biology. Analyzing the taxonomic distribution of isoprene production in tropical species is expected to enhance our understanding of forest dynamics and resiliency. Using the integrated measures of isoprene production capacity, climate data, and species range distributions, the Fellow will build a predictive framework to model the impact of climate changes on tropical forests. Results from these studies will be published in peer-reviewed journals and shared at scientific meetings.