Does home-field advantage cause faster decomposition rates in temperate forest ecosystems?

主场优势是否会导致温带森林生态系统更快的分解速度？

• 批准号: 0816720
• 负责人: Matthew Wallenstein
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Colorado State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2008
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2008-09-01 至 2011-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0816720&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Does; home; field; advantage; cause; Does; home; field; advantage; cause

Decomposition of plant material is a fundamental ecological process that controls carbon storage and nutrient cycling in ecosystems, which in turn help determine plant production and can influence global climate. Decomposition rates are known to be strongly dependent on both climate and litter quality (i.e. the chemical composition of the material). However, these factors alone cannot fully explain rates of decomposition, which indicates that other factors also influence decomposition rates. This project will determine whether soil communities associated with specific tree species specialize in decomposing leaf litter from the same tree species growing above them. This phenomenon can be termed ?home-field advantage?. It will be tested in montane forests in Colorado by transplanting leaf litter from three tree species (trembling aspen, lodgepole pine, and Engelmann spruce) among stands of all three tree species and measuring decomposition over two years.An understanding of the role of soil biota in decomposition is important for two reasons. First, this data could be used to improve predictions of decomposition rates in forest ecosystems, a critical process in global carbon cycling. Second, ongoing climate changes are causing plant species to shift their ranges; however, the small size and limited dispersal ability of many soil organisms may prevent them from shifting their range in tandem with their host plant species. Thus, soil communities that specialize in decomposing leaf litter from a certain plant species may become geographically disconnected from that plant species, which could alter decomposition rates and the carbon cycle of the ecosystem. This research will train undergraduate and graduate students.

植物材料的分解是一个基本的生态过程，可控制生态系统中的碳储存和养分循环，进而有助于确定植物生产并影响全球气候。已知分解速率在很大程度上取决于气候和垃圾质量（即材料的化学成分）。但是，仅这些因素无法完全解释分解速率，这表明其他因素也会影响分解速率。该项目将确定与特定树种相关的土壤群落是否专门从它们上方生长的同一树种分解叶子。 这种现象可以称为？家庭场优势吗？它将通过在所有三个树种的林分中从三种树种（颤抖的aspen，lodgepole pine and lodgepole pine and lodgepole pine and lodgepole pine and lodgepole pine和engelmann云杉）中移植叶子的叶子中的叶子垃圾来测试，并在两年内测量分解。首先，这些数据可用于改善森林生态系统中分解速率的预测，这是全球碳循环中的关键过程。其次，持续的气候变化正在导致植物物种转移其范围。但是，许多土壤生物的尺寸较小和有限的分散能力可能会阻止它们与宿主植物物种相连。因此，专门从某种植物物种分解叶子的土壤群落可能会与该植物物种脱节，这可能会改变分解速率和生态系统的碳循环。 这项研究将培训本科生和研究生。