MCA: A Meta-analytic approach to resolving mechanisms of plant-soil-herbivore interactions

MCA：解决植物-土壤-草食动物相互作用机制的荟萃分析方法

• 批准号: 2120677
• 负责人: Jennifer Krumins
• 金额: $ 24.14万
• 依托单位: Montclair State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-08-15 至 2024-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2120677&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: MCA; Meta; analytic; approach; resolving

Plants and their associated soils are in a close bidirectional relationship, and this relationship is affected by organisms such as herbivores that consume plants. Feeding by herbivores may influence the numbers and species of plants present in the ecosystem. However, consistent relationships between feeding by herbivores does and the composition or functioning of the soil community have not yet been described. The resolution of this paradox is a fascinating ecological question because indirect effects among organisms are tricky to resolve, but it is also important from a human perspective due to the potential implications to soil properties. For example, changes in soil functioning can influence agricultural success or carbon storage for climate mitigation. In addition, human demographic patterns and shifts in land use have markedly changed the distribution of wild herbivores and livestock, making this a more urgent problem. Therefore, the need to define the role of herbivory on soils and their functioning is profound. This research will tease apart and define the effect of herbivory on soil community composition and functioning as it occurs across varied environments. Interactions among herbivores, plants, and soils are driven by gradients of multi-variate factors, both biotic and abiotic, and establishing controlled and repeatable experiments to capture these factors is expensive and challenging. Modern and diverse data sets from prior manipulative and observational herbivore experiments are abundant. However, when considered in isolation, individual experiments typically reveal inconsistent and weak responses in the soil. This research will compile and analyze a large number of experimental and observational data sets, thus revealing the full continuum of biotic and abiotic influences of herbivores on the soil. Specifically, the methods will include a regression based and multi-variate meta-analytic approach. In so doing, the following research goals will be addressed: First, meta-analytic regression will capture non-linear or indirect effects of herbivory on soil functioning. Second, multivariate herbivore effects will be explored with respect to both abiotic environmental variables and community level interaction variables, i.e. nutrient flux via dung, trampling or seed dispersal. In partnership with a world expert in meta-analysis, this research will gather diverse data sets to resolve the most elusive mechanisms explaining the link between herbivory and soil ecosystem functioning. The outcome of this work will be a substantial and publicly available database in addition to student training and numerous scientific publications and presentations.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.

植物及其相关的土壤处于亲密的双向关系中，这种关系受到食用植物的草食动物等生物的影响。食草动物的进食可能会影响生态系统中存在的植物的数量和物种。但是，尚未描述食草动物的进食与土壤社区的组成或功能之间的一致关系。该悖论的解决是一个令人着迷的生态问题，因为生物体之间的间接影响很难解决，但是从人类角度来看，由于对土壤特性的潜在影响，这也很重要。例如，土壤功能的变化会影响农业成功或碳储存以减轻气候。此外，人口统计学模式和土地使用的转变明显改变了野生草食动物和牲畜的分布，这使得这是一个更紧迫的问题。因此，定义草食作用在土壤中的作用及其功能的需求是深远的。这项研究将嘲笑并定义草食界对土壤社区组成的影响，并在各种环境中发生。 食草动物，植物和土壤之间的相互作用是由生物和非生物的多变量因素的梯度驱动的，以及建立受控且可重复的实验以捕获这些因素是昂贵且具有挑战性的。先前的操纵和观察性草食动物实验的现代和多样化数据集很丰富。但是，当孤立地考虑单个实验时，通常会发现土壤中的不一致和反应较弱。这项研究将编译和分析大量的实验和观察数据集，从而揭示食草动物在土壤上的生物和非生物影响的全部连续性。具体而言，这些方法将包括基于回归的和多变量的荟萃分析方法。这样一来，将解决以下研究目标：首先，荟萃分析回归将捕获食草动物对土壤功能的非线性或间接影响。其次，将探索多元食草动物的效应，以相对于非生物环境变量和社区水平的相互作用变量，即通过粪便，践踏或种子分散的营养通量。该研究将与全球荟萃分析专家合作，将收集各种数据集，以解决解释草食生态系统和土壤生态系统功能之间联系的最难以捉摸的机制。除了学生培训以及众多的科学出版物和演讲外，这项工作的结果还将是一个实质性公开的数据库。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并被认为是值得通过基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛影响的评估审查标准来通过评估来支持的。