Two 科罗拉多大学 students will spend most of this summer in the Alaskan Arctic conducting plant ecological re搜索.
John Feigelson, 19岁 和 海耶斯·亨德森20岁 are working with Roxaneh Khors和, a visiting professor in 科罗拉多大学's 生物与生态学系， 谁最近收到了22美元,223 Re搜索 Opportunity Award from the National Science Foundation for her project, "The effect of climate warming on plant-pollinator interactions in the Alaskan Arctic.该基金与史蒂夫·奥伯鲍尔(Steve Oberbauer)合作, a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Florida International University, 和 represents a collaboration between a liberal arts college 和 a re搜索 institution.
Additional funding from 科罗拉多大学 allows Feigelson 和 亨德森 to spend eight weeks working at the Toolik Field Station, 美国.S.'s most important arctic re搜索 station 和 the site of the National Science Foundation's Arctic Long-term Ecological Re搜索 Site, 位于布鲁克斯山脉以北.
"The effects of climate change are particularly visible in the Arctic because rapidly retreating sea ice creates a positive feedback that further exacerbates warming,” Khors和, who is making her second re搜索 trip to the Alaskan Arctic. "Increases in temperature have cascading effects across all ecosystems. 作为一名植物生态学家，我主要研究陆地系统. Changes are happening right before our eyes so we can measure these changes 和 predict future changes."
Feigelson, 亨德森, 和Khors和, who conducted her post-doctoral re搜索 on plant reproductive responses to climate change, departed for Alaska shortly after 科罗拉多大学's 毕业典礼.
"The Toolik Field Station has always been on my radar because of the field re搜索 that has come out of there,亨德森说。, 贝塞斯达大学环境研究专业的学生, 马里兰. "I've read papers that have had their field re搜索 based there, 所以我很高兴能为这项研究做出贡献."
"It's exciting to have a faculty member put their faith in you,费格尔森说, an organismal biology 和 ecology major from New York City who will serve as the department's paraprofessional next year. "It's a great opportunity to conduct re搜索 that has a direct application so soon after graduation."
Feigelson 和 亨德森 will test the effects of climate warming on plant phenology (the study of cyclic 和 seasonal natural phenomena) 和 reproductive output, using control plots 和 experimental plots with open-top chambers. Open-top chambers are widely used to study the effects of elevated CO2 以及其他温室气体对植被的影响. 它们类似于敞开式, mini greenhouses; plastic enclosures set on top of the l和 that interacts with the outside environment by capturing heat, 但是允许降水和昆虫进入.
Khors和's re搜索 will examine the effect of heat on plant reproduction, 看植物什么时候开花, 花了多少, 和 how effectively flowering translates to fruit 和 seed production. It will also look at the presence - or absence -of pollinators. It's been documented that many plant species in the Arctic are responding to climate change by flowering earlier. 什么Khors和, Feigelson, 和 亨德森 are looking at is how this will affect species interactions; will pollinators also be available earlier to do their part in the seasonal process? Not only will the team quantify potential mismatch between plant species 和 pollinators, the re搜索ers will also compare the effects of warming on insect-pollinated versus wind-pollinated plants. "Underst和ing how different pollination systems respond to climate change will allow us to predict how plant species diversity may change over time,Khors和说
"We're interested in seeing if insect species also are shifting,Khors和说. If plants 和 pollinators don't shift together, it results in a mismatch. "Mismatches between plants 和 pollinators can have potentially profound implications for plant reproductive success, 然而，人们对这个话题的了解相对较少,她说. "The low diversity of plant-pollinator communities in the Arctic relative to temperate systems, 加上生长季节短, highlights the particular vulnerability of arctic plant-pollinator interactions." Khors和 adds, "A critical concept in ecology is species-specific responses. That is, not all species respond to environmental change in a uniform manner. Some plant species are doing better because of climate change while others are not. We want to learn about plant reproductive patterns in the Arctic so we can inform management 和 the general public. My goal as a scientist is to use science to effectively conserve biodiversity."
除了国家科学基金会的资助, internal funding came from 科罗拉多大学's 生物与生态学系， 自然科学执行委员会, 还有院长办公室.