| NSF Org: |
DEB Division Of Environmental Biology |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | June 19, 2013 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | June 19, 2013 |
| Award Number: | 1311358 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Elizabeth Blood
DEB Division Of Environmental Biology BIO Directorate for Biological Sciences |
| Start Date: | July 1, 2013 |
| End Date: | June 30, 2016 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $19,903.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $19,903.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
2550 NORTHWESTERN AVE # 1100 WEST LAFAYETTE IN US 47906-1332 (765)494-1055 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
715 W. State St. West Lafayette IN US 47907-2061 |
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Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | ECOSYSTEM STUDIES |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.074 |
ABSTRACT
The Earth System Models (ESMs) used to make climate projections are continually becoming more sophisticated, and now incorporate a wide range of terrestrial processes. However, some potentially important processes are still omitted because they are either poorly understood or not quantified well enough to warrant inclusion. One such process is the decrease in sensitivity of photosynthesis and respiration to temperature that occurs after plants are given time to adjust, or acclimate, to a temperature change. This process, termed temperature acclimation, could critically influence projections of atmospheric CO2 increase by altering the amount of CO2 taken up by plants in a future, warmer world. This project will support a series of field measurements designed to quantify the potential of a variety of plant species (grasses, trees, crops) from a variety of biomes (tropical, temperate, and boreal) to acclimate to different temperatures. Species will be measured at pairs of sites that lie at different latitudes and, thus, have different growing season temperatures. Measurements at the different sites will be compared to assess the ability of each species to acclimate to the different temperatures. These field measurements will supplement a larger dissertation project designed to improve climate projections through the creation of temperature acclimation formulations suitable for ESMs.
The proposed project will support the mission of research coordination networks such as INTERFACE and FORECAST in the U.S. and TERRABITES in Europe to promote the interdisciplinary combination of empirical research and Earth System Modeling. The data gathered from this project will help to create first-of-their-kind formulations for photosynthesis and respiration that include temperature acclimation. The formulations will be designed in such a way that they can be easily implemented into most ESMs. Data will be submitted to multiple international databases, where it will be archived, stored, and made available to other researchers.
PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
In our research, we measured the photosynthetic and respiratory capacity of leaves of 98 plant species from 12 sites from Alaska to Costa Rica. The objective of the study was to examine the primary determinants of leaf carbon exchange (e.g., photosynthesis and respiration) capacity across species and biomes, with a particular emphasis on how recent climate may alter these processes through acclimation. Our analyses indicated that plant carbon exchange capacity could be well predicted by leaf nitrogen content, the growth and reproductive strategy of the plant, and recent climate and soil water status. Photosynthetic capacity increased with increasing leaf nitrogen, confirming previous studies indicating that much of nitrogen in leaves is tied to enzymes related to carbon acquisition. Photosynthetic rates were significantly greater in non-tree compared to tree species, indicating a greater investment in photosynthetic enzymes in small-statured plants with low cumulative leaf area. Low soil moisture and high temperature over the 25 days prior to measurement combined to decrease photosynthetic capacity, indicating that plants were down-regulating carbon acquisition capacity under hot and dry conditions. Leaf respiration also increased with leaf nitrogen in non-evergreen plants, confirming previous studies linking leaf nitrogen to carbon metabolism. However, this was not the case for evergreen trees, suggesting that variations in leaf nitrogen are not tied to respiration in these species with more conservative leaf allocation strategies. Leaf respiration was similar across individuals at low soil moisture, but varied with temperature over the previous 25 days in wetter soils, with warmer temperatures reducing respiration capacity, a commonly observed response. These data are being written up for publication. The associated dataset will be made freely available at the time of publication for use in comparative studies and by modeling groups.
Last Modified: 09/30/2016
Modified by: Jeffrey S Dukes
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