Consequences of competition and abiotic stress on the acquisition and internal allocation of nitrogen in temperate woody species

全球变化通过影响植物的生长和发育，从而影响适应性和生产力，给生态系统带来了新的挑战。因此，了解生态系统中植物之间相互作用的过程和机制，以及它们可能如何受到环境因素的影响，将有助于制定可持续生态系统的战略。鉴于限制资源的日常竞争，特别是植物生长限制氮素的日常竞争，植物已经开发出不同的机制来优化它们在根际的利用，例如通过从不同深度吸收氮素来避免竞争，选择不同的氮源，分泌抑制剂，和/或通过支持促进微生物来避免竞争。然而，气候变化(如干旱和气温升高)对森林生态系统中不同竞争者之间的这些复杂相互作用的影响仍然知之甚少，尽管这一专题最近已成为人们关注的焦点。此外，关于木本植物之间对氮素的竞争的研究还很少。该项目旨在为理解森林生态系统中植物相互作用中地下竞争氮素的调节过程提供新的见解。此外，还将研究关键的非生物因素(即氮素有效性、干旱和气温升高)对根际这些过程的影响。

Global change places new challenges on ecosystems by affecting plant growth and development, and thus fitness and productivity. Hence, understanding the processes and mechanisms underlying the interactions between plants within the ecosystem and how they might be affected by environmental factors will aid to develop strategies for sustainable ecosystems. Facing these challenges in the view of the daily competition for limiting resources, particularly plant growth limiting nitrogen, plants have developed different mechanisms to optimise their utilisation in the rhizosphere, for example by avoiding competition by taking up nitrogen from different depths, preferring different nitrogen sources, exuding inhibitors, and/or via supporting facilitating microorganisms. However, the consequences of climate change (e.g. drought and enhanced temperature) on these complex interactions between different competitors in forest ecosystems are still only little understood, although the topic has recently come into the focus of attention. Furthermore, studies on the competition for nitrogen between woody species are rare. This project aims to provide new insights into the understanding of the processes involved in the regulation of belowground competition for nitrogen in plant interactions in forest ecosystems. Furthermore, the influence of key abiotic factors (i.e. nitrogen availability, drought and enhanced temperature) on these processes in the rhizosphere will be studied.