Collaborative Research: From cooperation to exploitation: context-dependent effects of nectar microbes on pollination mutualisms

合作研究：从合作到利用：花蜜微生物对授粉互惠关系的环境依赖性影响

基本信息

批准号：
2211232
负责人：
Robert Schaeffer
金额：
$ 79.96万
依托单位：
Utah State University
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
Standard Grant
财政年份：
2022
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2022-06-01 至 2025-05-31
项目状态：
未结题

来源：
https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2211232&HistoricalAwards=false
关键词：
Collaborative Research cooperation exploitation context

项目摘要

Cooperation is ubiquitous across ecological systems; yet how it continues to persist, even in the face of cheating, remains an enigma. This project will explore if and how microbes affect cooperation using plants and the microbes that reside in floral nectar as a model system. Across different systems, mutualistic species have been observed to steal floral resources without providing pollination services in return. This project uses a combination of field experiments across a community of wildflowers, floral visitors, and associated microbes in the Rocky Mountains. The main goals are to characterize (1) drivers of nectar microbial community structure; (2) how nectar microbes influence behaviors displayed by floral visitors; and (3) how microbes and the visitor behaviors affect plant reproduction. Broader impacts include student training, public outreach, and improved understanding of a major ecosystem service: pollination. The project will train undergraduate students, a graduate student, and a postdoctoral researcher. Public outreach is planned through a partnership with a non-profit museum, as well as through work with middle schools and summer science camps.Interactions among plants, pollinators, and nectar robbers have long served as an important model system for exploring ecological shifts between states of cooperation and conflict. Yet, despite their extensive study, the mechanisms that underlie shifts between these states, and constancy within, remain surprisingly unclear. Nectar microbes represent understudied but potentially significant interactors that may shape the foraging conditions under which floral visitors may decide to cooperate or cheat. This project will (1) employ the use of culture-dependent and culture-independent approaches to characterize the nectar microbiome of five montane wildflowers after legitimate vs. nectar robber floral visits; (2) assess how nectar microbes influence floral odor, nectar chemistry, and visitor behaviors; and (3) measure feedbacks of the microbes and floral visitor community on components of plant reproduction. By studying nectar microbes, their impact on floral phenotype, and whether they reinforce or facilitate the breakdown of pollination, we will gain a broader understanding of the factors that shape plant reproduction and pollination mutualisms.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.

合作在整个生态系统中无处不在；然而，即使面对作弊，它如何继续存在仍然是一个谜。该项目将利用植物和花蜜中的微生物作为模型系统，探讨微生物是否以及如何影响合作。在不同的系统中，共生物种被观察到窃取花卉资源而不提供授粉服务作为回报。该项目结合了对落基山脉野花、花卉访客和相关微生物群落的现场实验。主要目标是表征（1）花蜜微生物群落结构的驱动因素； (2) 花蜜微生物如何影响花卉访客的行为；（3）微生物和访客行为如何影响植物繁殖。更广泛的影响包括学生培训、公众宣传以及提高对主要生态系统服务：授粉的理解。该项目将培养本科生、研究生和博士后研究员。通过与非营利博物馆的合作以及与中学和夏季科学营的合作来规划公共宣传。植物、传粉媒介和花蜜盗贼之间的相互作用长期以来一直是探索国家之间生态转变的重要模型系统的合作与冲突。然而，尽管进行了广泛的研究，这些状态之间的转变及其内部的恒定性背后的机制仍然令人惊讶地不清楚。花蜜微生物代表了尚未得到充分研究但具有潜在重要意义的相互作用者，它们可能会影响花卉游客决定合作或欺骗的觅食条件。该项目将 (1) 采用依赖于培养物和不依赖于培养物的方法来表征合法与花蜜强盗花卉访问后五种山地野花的花蜜微生物组； (2) 评估花蜜微生物如何影响花香、花蜜化学和游客行为； (3) 测量微生物和花卉访客群落对植物繁殖组成部分的反馈。通过研究花蜜微生物、它们对花表型的影响，以及它们是否加强或促进授粉的分解，我们将对影响植物繁殖和授粉互利共生的因素有更广泛的了解。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并被认为是值得的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来获得支持。