Functional ecology of the alpine cryptogamosphere in the face of change

面对变化的高山隐植物的功能生态学

• 批准号: NE/Y000978/1
• 负责人: Rebecca Yahr
• 金额: $ 37万
• 依托单位: Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2024 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=NE%2FY000978%2F1
• 关键词: Functional; ecology; alpine; cryptogamosphere; face

Cryptogams (mosses, lichens) are a conspicuous part of the ecology of alpine and higher-latitude ecosystems, and are important for cycling carbon and nutrients. In particular, how cryptogams take nitrogen from the atmosphere (N-fixation), could be of considerable importance in these systems, where nutrients are generally not easily accessible by plants and microbes. Our understanding on these processes is poor, especially in the alpine, and especially for times of the year outside of the main summer growing season. This is concerning given how climate change is disproportionally effecting higher latitude, higher elevation, ecosystems, and through changing snow-cover, affecting winter strongly. This also means that understanding the role cryptogams plays in global climate modelling is not well resolved, and in ecosystem where they are abundant, this is a shortcoming. Cryptogams also have a diverse microbial community inhabiting the aboveground parts. As part of a complex microbial food web, this includes photosynthesising organisms and microbes that can fix atmospheric nitrogen. Currently, we have little information on the molecular ecology of these communities, and if the structure and function of the microbe-cryptogam system varies over time, and amongst different cryptogams. To understand this, and how alpine cryptogams function over time and in response to changing energy and nutrient availability, we will study four different species of cryptogams in our fieldsite in the Cairngorms of eastern Scotland. In this sub-arctic alpine environment, we will measure how C and N are captured and cycled by cryptogams, measure for the first time how these processes occur under snow, and track the fate of C and N into soils. We will use shading methods to change how C enters to the system, allowing us to determine how cryptogams change their nutrient cycling under altered energy availability. Together, these investigations will help us better model how these ecosystems under a changing climate, and increase our understanding of the ecology of the cryptogamosphere.

隐花植物（苔藓、地衣）是高山和高纬度生态系统的重要组成部分，对于碳和养分的循环非常重要。特别是，隐花植物如何从大气中获取氮（固氮）在这些系统中可能非常重要，因为植物和微生物通常不容易获取营养物质。我们对这些过程的了解还很有限，尤其是在高山地区，尤其是在一年中主要夏季生长季节以外的时间。鉴于气候变化如何不成比例地影响高纬度、高海拔、生态系统，并通过改变积雪，强烈影响冬季，这一点令人担忧。这也意味着对密码游戏在全球气候模型中所扮演的角色的理解尚未得到很好的解决，而在密码游戏丰富的生态系统中，这是一个缺点。隐花植物的地上部分也有多样化的微生物群落。作为复杂微生物食物网的一部分，其中包括光合作用生物和可以固定大气氮的微生物。目前，我们对这些群落的分子生态学以及微生物-密码系统的结构和功能是否随时间变化以及不同密码系统之间的变化了解甚少。为了了解这一点，以及高山隐花植物如何随着时间的推移发挥作用，并响应不断变化的能量和养分供应，我们将在苏格兰东部凯恩戈姆的现场研究四种不同的隐花植物。在这个亚北极高山环境中，我们将测量隐花植物如何捕获和循环碳和氮，首次测量这些过程如何在雪下发生，并追踪碳和氮进入土壤的命运。我们将使用着色方法来改变 C 进入系统的方式，从而使我们能够确定密码植物在改变能量可用性的情况下如何改变其营养循环。总之，这些研究将帮助我们更好地模拟这些生态系统在气候变化下的运作方式，并增加我们对加密动物圈生态的理解。