NSF PRFB FY23: Temperature effects on community assembly: a case study in nectar microbes of a western north American native plant

这一行动为NSF 2023财年生物学博士后研究奖学金提供了资金，综合研究调查了支配基因组、环境和表型之间相互作用的生命规则。该奖学金支持研究员的研究和培训，这些研究员将以创新的方式为生活规则领域做出贡献。尽管面临气候变化的威胁，但温度对主要生态过程的影响仍未得到很好的了解。群落组装是生物和非生物因素相互作用，形成组成群落的物种群体的过程。这项研究旨在了解温度和社区集会之间的联系。该项目将把实验方法和理论方法结合起来。该模式系统由北美本土植物密花马先蒿及其花蜜微生物组成。花和它们的花蜜一开始就是无菌的环境。随着时间的推移，微生物到达，由昆虫和鸟类等传粉者运输。该项目的第一个目标是测量花蜜微生物的温度反应。然后，对实验室和野外的社区集会进行研究。该项目还将为温度对社区集会的影响开发新的理论。生活史性状的温度响应在许多生命形式中是保守的。因此，对花蜜微生物的研究可以为气候变化对其他社区的影响提供洞察力。花蜜微生物群落由一小部分细菌和酵母菌组成。它们可以进行培养，并在实验室环境中对其种群进行量化。这使它们成为理清气候变化对社区集会影响的理想系统。该项目将首先测量热反应指标的增长速度。增长率将根据死亡和出生情况进行量化，目标是为每个物种建立一个参数模型。该项目的第二阶段包括通过在实验室和实地建立不同温度条件下的实验社区来研究组装的结果。实验数据将被用来计算物种之间的相互作用强度，并建立一个纳入温度的群落聚集理论模型。最后，还将研究不同蜜源群落对密花松授粉偏好和繁殖力的影响。这位研究员将获得细菌方法、分子技术和数学建模方面的专业知识。该项目的更广泛的影响包括促进本科生的研究经验和开发关于在R中使用模拟来学习生态模型的研讨会。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2023, Integrative Research Investigating the Rules of Life Governing Interactions Between Genomes, Environment, and Phenotypes. The fellowship supports research and training of the fellow that will contribute to the area of Rules of Life in innovative ways. Despite the threat of climate change, the effects of temperature on major ecological processes are still not well understood. Community assembly is a process in which biotic and abiotic factors interact, giving rise to the group of species that make up a community. This research aims to understand the link between temperature and community assembly. The project will combine experimental and theoretical methods. The model system consists of the native North American plant Pedicularis densiflora and its nectar microbes. Flowers and their nectar begin as a sterile environment. Over time, microorganisms arrive, transported by pollinators like insects and birds. The first goal of this project is to measure the temperature responses of nectar microbes. Then, community assembly in the laboratory and the field will be studied. The project will also develop new theory for the effects of temperature on community assembly. The temperature responses of life history traits are conserved among many life forms. Therefore, studies on nectar microbes can provide insights about the effects of climate change in other communities. Nectar microbe communities consist of a small set of bacteria and yeast species. They can be cultured, and their populations quantified in laboratory settings. This makes them an ideal system to disentangle the effects of climate change on community assembly. The project will first measure thermal reaction norms of growth rate. Growth rate will be quantified in terms of death and birth with the goal of building a parameterized model for each species. The second phase of this project involves studying the outcomes of assembly by building experimental communities in the lab and in the field subject to different temperature regimes. The experimental data will be used to calculate interaction strengths between species and build a theoretical model for community assembly that incorporates temperature. Finally, the consequences of different nectar communities on pollination preference and fecundity of P. densiflora will be studied. The fellow will gain expertise in bacterial methods, molecular techniques, and mathematical modeling. Broader impacts of this project include facilitating research experiences for undergraduates and developing workshops on the use of simulations in R to learn ecological models.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.