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: 2326021
• 负责人: Stephen Keller
• 金额: $ 49.75万
• 依托单位: University of Vermont & State Agricultural College
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard 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=2326021&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.

美国东北部的山顶支持北极和高山植物的独特生态系统，这些生态系统存在于绿绿色上方的小而孤立的斑块。人们认为，自大约13，000年前冰川撤退以来，这些植物群落就已经存在，在过去的自然气候变化以及上个世纪的人类引起的变暖中生存。这些脆弱的生态系统在文化上很重要，每年都会吸引成千上万的徒步旅行者。他们还对保护他们免受气候变化，践踏，过度使用和其他威胁的管理机构构成挑战。同时，他们可能会掌握有关孤立人群如何在气候变化时期生存的线索。答案是否在于植物本身，能够迅速适应不断变化的环境？还是他们在庇护的角落和基岩的缝隙中取得成功的秘诀是在高温期间提供凉爽的避难所？随着时间的流逝，这些山顶“岛屿”在多大程度上消失并可能再次出现？为了回答这些问题，佛蒙特大学和缅因州大学的一组研究人员将在阿迪朗达克山脉，佛蒙特州的绿山，新罕布什尔州的白山和缅因州的卡塔赫丁进行采样，分析古代植物的DNA，以了解以来物种以来几千年代的真正持久。同时，他们将在田间和实验花园中调查东北高山地区的现代植物。最后，研究人员将在展示高山植物的播客中分享他们的结果，以及与之合作的人，以及新的AI驱动应用程序（在东北高山管理的培训讲习班期间提出），这些应用程序将帮助管理人员和其他人对如何为这一至关重要的自然传统做出明智的决定，从而帮助经理和其他人做出明智的决定。这项工作的总体目的是帮助科学家，志愿者和管理人员了解如何更好地支持东北地区的高山植物，而且在世界其他地区，稀有或孤立的物种面临着气候变化和其他威胁。该项目将整合古生态学，社区生态学，特征生态学，人口生态学，人口基因组学，基因组和地理的工厂和北方人的境地的工具。研究小组着眼于阿迪朗达克山脉（NY），绿色（VT）和白色（NH）山脉以及卡塔赫丁（ME），研究小组将使用高山沉积物核心的古代DNA在物种水平上的最后约13，000年的植被动力学来表征。为了表征对历史变暖的响应变化，然后通过将现代植物群与历史调查记录进行比较，他们将进行植物调查，以估算上个世纪的物种转移。然后，该团队将结合来自普通园艺实验，微气候传感器阵列，功能性状分析和从人口基因组数据的合并建模的数据，以揭示过去和当代人口统计学动态，并阐明微层次，表型可变性和局部适应性的相对作用，以及在跨越千禧年的驱动过程中，Centennial，Centennial，Centennial，Centennial，Centennial timescal and decadal Timescal and decadal timescal timecal timescal and decadal tiseal timescal timecal。该研究将重点介绍六个焦点分类单元，该分类群代表着重要的高山植物功能类型（Graminoids，Forbs和矮灌木）。由此产生的多维生物多样性数据将为预测模型提供信息，这些模型将在对过去已知的生物多样性动态进行测试后与区域经理共享。通过这种新颖的综合方法，该项目旨在通过量化气候避难所，体型型过程，表型可塑性，自适应能力以及在整合的框架中的竞争计划，在变暖的框架中，竞争计划是在变暖的范围内，在变暖世界中，在变暖世界中碎片人群中的生物多样性动力学中的预测能力。 （EPSCOR）。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，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审查标准来评估值得支持的。