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News Release 18-098

NSF announces new awards for research to better understand Earth’s biodiversity

Projects simultaneously explore ecological and evolutionary processes to grasp synergistic impact

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Carla Atkinson studies the evolutionary ecology of freshwater mussels.

An aquatic ecologist at the University of Alabama Tuscaloosa, Carla Atkinson studies mussels from the diverse community of the Duck River in Tennessee. Atkinson studies the evolutionary ecology of freshwater mussels. From top to bottom, left to right: Rabbitsfoot (Theliderma cylindrica), Round hickorynut (Obovaria subrotunda), Wavyrayed Lampmussel (Lampsilis fasciola), Cumberland Monkeyface (Theliderma intermedia), Birdwing Pearlymussel (Lemiox rimosus), Duck River Dartersnapper (Epioblasma ahlstedti), Spike (Elliptio dilatata).

Credit: Carla Atkinson, University of Alabama


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Karl Hambright's work will help identify patterns in cyanobacterial algal blooms.

In July 2008, Karl Hambright from the University of Oklahoma was part of a team that took samples from this cyanobacterial algal bloom in Lago de Patzcuaro, Mexico. Hambright will lead a team of researchers with his Dimensions of Biodiversity project to better understand patterns in functional biodiversity in these types of algal blooms.

Credit: Alan Wilson, Auburn University, School of Fisheries, Aquaculture, and Aquatic Sciences


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Fay-Wei Li's research will help to understand plant interactions with nitrogen-fixing microbes.

Every hornwort species is capable of a symbiotic relationship with cyanobacteria, making it a good plant to study to understand plant interactions with nitrogen-fixing microbes. Fay-Wei Li at the Boyce Thompson Institute of Plant Research will study the diversity of this hornwort-cyanobacterium symbiosis.

Credit: Fay-Wei Li


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Chris Marx will study methylobacterium, which are a bacteria found in soil and sewage and on leaves.

Chris Marx, an evolutionary biologist from the University of Idaho, will look specifically at methylobacterium, which are a bacteria found in soil, in sewage and on the surfaces of leaves. His work will help better understand the evolution of a diverse bacterial community.

Credit: University of Idaho Photographic Services


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Marjorie Weber studies causes and consequences of plants adapting to coexist with their

Marjorie Weber, a plant biologist at Michigan State University, studies the evolution of mutualistic plant defenses, mechanisms where plants and their "pests" can co-exist in beneficial fashion to both species. Here she shows where tar was experimentally applied to block the mite domatia on wild grape leaves to study ecological consequences. Domatia are structures that the plants have produced specifically for the mites to use.

Credit: Harley J. Seeley


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