EAGER: Plant-microbe interactions in a changing world: indirect effects of environmental change in a heterogeneous landscape

EAGER：不断变化的世界中的植物-微生物相互作用：异质景观中环境变化的间接影响

基本信息

批准号：
2027920
负责人：
Emily Farrer
金额：
$ 20万
依托单位：
Tulane University
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
Standard Grant
财政年份：
2020
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2020-07-01 至 2023-06-30
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2027920&HistoricalAwards=false
关键词：
EAGER Plant microbe interactions changing

项目摘要

Environmental change has direct impacts on plants since plant growth depends on factors like nitrogen, temperature, and drought. However, environmental change can also have “indirect effects”, by altering the abundance of co-occurring species that either positively or negatively affect the plant being studied. While indirect effects through plant competitors and animal herbivores have been well studied, indirect effects via microbes (including fungi and bacteria) have received little attention. A vast array of microbes inhabits all plants, and they have a variety of effects: some microbes cause disease while others are beneficial and promote plant health. Environmental change may alter the amount of disease-causing or beneficial microbes, which will have consequences for plant growth via indirect effects. This project will assess linkages among environmental change, microbes, and plants in the alpine tundra in the Rocky Mountains. A deeper understanding of how microbes will be affected by changing environmental conditions, and implications for plant growth in the future, is important for managing our natural resources. This is especially true in the Rocky Mountains, a much-loved tourist destination that supports a lot of wildlife. This work may also lead to identification of plant diseases that may increase in the future, or beneficial microbes that may be useful for restoration. This project includes training opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students as well as outreach to middle school students and teachers.To test how environmental change may influence microbial communities and plant growth, the researchers will measure plant performance (growth, flower production) and microbes abundance and diversity (in soil and plant roots) in: 1) a field survey across different environments in the alpine tundra encompassing cool/wet to warm/dry conditions and 2) a field-based experiment that manipulates growing season length and temperature. Path analysis will be used to evaluate direct vs. indirect effects of environmental change on plant performance. The survey and experiment are replicated across a range of environmental conditions in the alpine in order to assess whether the strength and direction of indirect effects vary across a heterogeneous landscape. To understand mechanisms that alter microbial community composition and diversity, the researchers will measure abiotic (e.g., soil moisture, snow depth) and biotic (e.g., plant stress) factors in the survey and experiment and relate them to microbial community structure. Functions of important microbial players in this system will be explored by classifying microbes as pathogen, mutualist, or decomposer using existing databases, and by measuring the function of some microbial taxa using culture-based lab inoculation experiments.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.

由于植物的生长取决于氮，温度和干旱等因素，因此环境变化对植物产生了直接影响。但是，环境变化也可以通过改变积极或负面影响正在研究的植物的同时发生物种的抽象来具有“间接影响”。虽然通过植物竞争者和动物食草动物进行的间接影响已经很好地研究了，但通过微生物（包括真菌和细菌）的间接影响很少受到关注。大量的微生物会影响所有植物，它们具有多种影响：有些微生物会导致疾病，而另一些微生物则是有益的并促进植物健康的。环境变化可能会改变引起疾病或有益的微生物的数量，这将对植物生长通过间接影响产生影响。该项目将评估落基山脉高山苔原的环境变化，微生物和植物之间的联系。对微生物将如何受到环境状况的影响以及对未来植物生长的影响的更深入的了解对于管理我们的自然资源至关重要。在洛基山脉（Rocky Mountains）尤其如此，这是一个备受喜爱的旅游目的地，支持许多野生动植物。这项工作还可能导致鉴定未来可能增加的植物疾病，或者可能对恢复有用的有益微生物。 This project includes training opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students as well as outreach to middle school students and teachers.To test how environmental change may influence microbial communities and plant growth, the researchers will measure plant performance (growth, flower production) and microbes abstraction and diversity (in soil and plant roots) in: 1) a field survey across different environments in the alpine tundra encompassing cool/wet to warm/dry conditions and 2) a Field-based experiment that操纵生长季节的长度和温度。路径分析将用于评估环境变化对植物性能的直接和间接影响。调查和实验在高山的一系列环境条件上进行了复制，以评估间接影响的强度和方向在异质景观中是否有所不同。为了了解改变微生物群落组成和多样性的机制，研究人员将在调查和实验中测量非生物（例如，土壤水分，积雪深度）和生物（例如植物压力）因素（例如植物压力）因素，并将其与微生物社区结构相关联。该系统中重要的微生物参与者的功能将通过使用现有数据库将微生物分类为病原体，共同主义者或分解器，并使用基于文化的实验室接种实验来衡量某些微生物分类群的功能。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并通过使用基金会的智力和广泛的评估来评估NSF的法定任务，并通过评估了支持。