Collaborative Research: BoCP-Implementation: Alpine plants as a model system for biodiversity dynamics in a warming world: Integrating genetic, functional, and community approaches

合作研究：BoCP-实施：高山植物作为变暖世界中生物多样性动态的模型系统：整合遗传、功能和社区方法

• 批准号: 2326020
• 负责人: Jacquelyn Gill
• 金额: $ 200.12万
• 依托单位: University of Maine
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2024-01-01 至 2027-12-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2326020&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; BoCP; Implementation; Alpine

The mountaintops of the northeastern United States support unique ecosystems of Arctic and alpine plants, which exist as small, isolated patches above the treeline. It is thought that these plant communities have existed since the retreat of the glaciers approximately 13,000 years ago, surviving through the natural climate changes of the past as well as human-caused warming over the last century. These vulnerable ecosystems are culturally important, drawing thousands of hikers to these peaks every year. They also pose a challenge for the management agencies tasked with protecting them from climate change, trampling, overuse, and other threats. At the same time, they may hold clues about how small, isolated populations can survive periods of climate change. Does the answer lie in the plants themselves, in their ability to adapt quickly to changing environments? Or is the secret to their success in the sheltered nooks and crannies of bedrock, which provide a cool refuge during the heat? And to what extent are plants disappearing, and perhaps reappearing, on these mountaintop “islands” over time? To answer these questions, a team of researchers from the University of Vermont and the University of Maine will sample alpine lakes in the Adirondacks, the Green Mountains of Vermont, the White Mountains of New Hampshire, and Katahdin in Maine, analyzing the DNA of ancient plants to understand whether species have truly persisted in the thousands of years since the end of the last ice age. At the same time, they’ll be investigating the modern-day plants of the northeast alpine region, both in the field and in experimental gardens. Finally, researchers will share their results in a podcast showcasing alpine plants and the people who work with them, as well as in a new AI-powered app (presented during training workshops at the Northeast Alpine Stewardship Gatherings) that will help managers and others make informed decisions about how best to steward this vital natural heritage through the coming century. The overall goal of this work is to help scientists, volunteers, and managers understand how better to support not only alpine plants across the northeast, but in other parts of the world where rare or isolated species are faced with climate change and other threats.This project will integrate tools from paleoecology, community ecology, trait ecology, population genomics, and geography to develop an understanding of how alpine plant communities in the northeast assembled and persisted. Focusing on the Adirondacks (NY), the Green (VT) and White (NH) Mountains, and Katahdin (ME), the research team will first characterize the last ~13,000 years of vegetation dynamics at the species level using ancient DNA from alpine sediment cores. To characterize changes in response to historic warming, they will then conduct plant surveys to estimate species turnover over the last century by comparing modern-day flora with historic survey records. The team will then combine data from common garden experiments, microclimate sensor arrays, functional trait analyses, and coalescent modeling from population genomic data to reveal past and contemporary demographic dynamics and clarify the relative roles of microrefugia, phenotypic plasticity, and local adaptation in driving biodiversity turnover across millennial, centennial, and decadal timescales. The study will focus on six focal taxa that represent key alpine plant functional types (graminoids, forbs, and dwarf shrubs). The resulting multi-dimensional biodiversity data will inform predictive models that will be shared with regional managers after being tested against past known biodiversity dynamics. Through this novel, integrative approach, the project aims to increase predictive power in forecasting biodiversity dynamics in fragmented populations in a warming world by quantifying the relative roles of climate refugia, metapopulation processes, phenotypic plasticity, and adaptive capacity in an integrative framework.This proposal is jointly funded by the Biodiversity on a Changing Planet program and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).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.

美国东北部的山顶孕育着独特的北极和高山植物生态系统，这些植物群落以小而孤立的斑块形式存在于林线之上。人们认为，这些植物群落自大约 13,000 年前冰川消退以来就已经存在，并在冰川消融期间幸存下来。过去的自然气候变化以及上个世纪人为造成的变暖，这些脆弱的生态系统具有重要的文化意义，每年吸引成千上万的徒步旅行者前往这些山峰，这也给负责管理的机构带来了挑战。保护它们免受气候变化、践踏、过度使用和其他威胁，同时，它们可能掌握着小而孤立的种群如何能够在气候变化时期生存的线索，答案是否在于植物本身，在于它们的适应能力。或者是它们在基岩的隐蔽角落和缝隙中成功的秘诀，这些角落和缝隙在炎热的天气里提供了凉爽的避难所？随着时间的推移，这些山顶“岛屿”上的植物消失到什么程度，甚至可能重新出现？ ？到为了回答这些问题，来自佛蒙特大学和缅因大学的一组研究人员将对阿迪朗达克山脉、佛蒙特州绿山、新罕布什尔州怀特山脉和缅因州卡塔丁的高山湖泊进行采样，分析古代植物的 DNA了解自上一个冰河时代结束以来物种是否真正存在了数千年。同时，他们将在野外和实验花园中研究东北高山地区的现代植物。最后，研究人员将分享他们在播客中展示了他们的成果，展示了高山植物和与它们一起工作的人员，以及一个新的人工智能驱动的应用程序（在东北高山管理聚会的培训研讨会上展示），该应用程序将帮助管理人员和其他人就如何最好地做出明智的决定这项工作的总体目标是帮助科学家、志愿者和管理人员了解如何更好地支持东北地区以及世界其他稀有或孤立的地区的高山植物。物种正面临气候变化和该项目将整合古生态学、群落生态学、性状生态学、种群基因组学和地理学的工具，以了解东北部的高山植物群落如何聚集和持续存在，重点关注阿迪朗达克山脉（纽约州）、格林山脉（佛蒙特州）。 ）和怀特（NH）山脉和卡塔丁（ME），研究小组将首先利用高山沉积物核心的古代DNA来表征过去约13,000年的物种水平植被动态，以表征响应的变化。然后，他们将进行植物调查，通过将现代植物区系与历史调查记录进行比较来估计上个世纪的物种更替，然后该团队将来自常见花园实验的数据，结合微气候传感器阵列、功能性状分析和联合建模。该研究将重点关注代表关键的六个焦点类群，从种群基因组数据中揭示过去和当代的人口动态，并阐明微型栖息地、表型可塑性和局部适应在驱动生物多样性更替方面的相对作用。高山植物功能类型（禾本科植物、禾本科植物和矮灌木）将通过这种新颖的综合方法，在对过去已知的生物多样性动态进行测试后，为预测模型提供信息。旨在通过量化综合框架中气候庇护所、集合种群过程、表型可塑性和适应能力的相对作用，提高预测变暖世界中分散种群的生物多样性动态的预测能力。该提案是该奖项由“变化中的地球生物多样性计划”和“刺激竞争性研究既定计划”(EPSCoR) 共同资助。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。