SitS: Leveraging spectroscopy and in situ soil sensing for the prediction of keystone soil microbial functions

土壤是地球上第二大碳库，真菌和细菌等土壤微生物是土壤中固碳量的关键决定因素。由于固碳量的相对微小变化会影响大气中二氧化碳的量，土壤微生物有可能减缓或加剧气候变化。目前碳固存的生物地球化学模型没有充分考虑土壤微生物的活动，本研究小组将使用最近开发的传感器来探索土壤微生物对不同生态系统中碳动态的作用。更具体地说，该项目将实施新颖的低成本和高效的土壤传感平台，以促进从美国大陆跨越空间和时间收集的数千个样品中快速估计微生物功能，以改进对未来土壤碳储存的预测。该项目的其他更广泛的影响包括为威斯康星州的高中生提供土壤生态学的体验式学习机会，以及为计算机科学领域的年轻学者提供开发有关土壤传感、微生物功能和生物地球化学建模的互动游戏的机会。该奖项是通过“土壤信号”征集活动获得的，该征集活动是美国国家科学基金会和美国农业部国家粮食和农业研究所（USDA NIFA）之间的合作伙伴关系。这项研究将通过定义一组简约的光谱和微生物参数来改变对动态土壤过程的理解，这些参数可用于估计与自然和管理系统中土壤碳动态相关的微生物功能。整合土壤传感、机械工程、代谢组学、微生物学和生物地球化学的跨学科方法将被用来揭示新的原位土壤传感数据、土壤光谱和与土壤碳封存相关的关键微生物功能之间的关系。该项目将验证中红外光谱与新型原位土壤传感技术相结合的假设，该假设可以彻底改变对区域和大陆尺度上关键微生物过程的理解，并改进下一代碳封存的生物地球化学模型。为了验证这一假设，该团队将整合来自两个长期数据源的田野和土壤光谱观测，国家生态观测站网络站点和威斯康星州的种植系统试验，以及实验室对土壤碳组分、微生物活动和代谢物变异性的估计，以量化土壤传感技术预测驱动土壤碳封存的土壤微生物功能的能力。此外，结果数据集将提供给研究界，以解决未来的问题。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Soil represents the second largest pool of carbon on Earth, and soil microbes like fungi and bacteria are key determinants of the amount of carbon sequestered in soil. Because relatively small changes in the amount of carbon sequestered can affect the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, soil microbes have the potential to mitigate or exacerbate climate change. Current biogeochemical models of carbon sequestration do not adequately incorporate soil microbial activity and this research team will use recently developed sensors to explore the role of soil microbes to carbon dynamics in diverse ecosystems. More specifically, this project will implement novel low-cost and efficient soil sensing platforms to facilitate the rapid estimation of microbial functions from thousands of samples collected across space and time in the continental US to improve predictions of future storage of soil carbon. Additional broader impacts of this project include experiential learning opportunities in soil ecology for high school students across Wisconsin as well as opportunities for young scholars in computer science to develop interactive games about soil sensing, microbial functions, and biogeochemical modeling. This award was made through the "Signals in the Soil (SitS)" solicitation, a collaborative partnership between the National Science Foundation and the United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA NIFA).This research will transform understanding of dynamic soil processes by defining parsimonious sets of spectral and microbial parameters that can be used to estimate microbial functions associated with soil carbon dynamics in both natural and managed systems. Interdisciplinary approaches to integrate soil sensing, mechanical engineering, metabolomics, microbiology, and biogeochemistry will be used to uncover relationships between novel in situ soil sensing data, soil spectra, and key microbial functions that are associated with soil carbon sequestration. The project will test the hypothesis that combined mid-infrared spectroscopic and novel in situ soil sensing technology can revolutionize understanding of key microbial processes at regional and continental scales and improve next generation biogeochemical models of carbon sequestration. To test this hypothesis, the team will integrate field and soil spectral observations from two long-term data sources, National Ecological Observatory Network sites and a cropping systems trial in Wisconsin, with lab estimations of soil carbon fractions, microbial activity, and metabolite variability to quantify the capacity of soil sensing technology to predict soil microbial functions that drive soil carbon sequestration. In addition, the resulting dataset that will be made available to the research community to address future questions.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.