NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2019: Assembly in the air: Experimentally testing colonization versus niche hypotheses in aerial plant communities

Spicer, Michelle, Pittsburgh PA

Investigators

Abstract

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2019, Broadening Participation of Groups Under-represented in Biology. The fellowship supports a research and training plan for the Fellow that will increase the participation of groups underrepresented in biology. The rainforest canopy remains one of the most diverse yet understudied areas of earth's biology. Epiphytes, such as orchids, ferns, and mosses, live in the canopy. These aerial plants are highly diverse, contribute to important ecosystem processes, and provide vital resources for animals. Epiphytes, however, are being threatened by logging and the effects of a changing climate across the world. This research, therefore, also has implications for conservation. The project aims to understand how epiphytes assemble, change over time, and maintain a diverse and healthy community. Epiphytes will be analyzed in the canopies of forests in the Pacific Northwest and Panama. The Fellow will continue work promoting a more inclusive scientific community by teaching, mentoring, and leadership in Spanish and English. The Fellow's research will directly contribute to the longstanding theoretical debate between colonization versus niche processes as drivers of plant community assembly. If niche processes are the primary driver of community assembly, epiphytes will be sorted by host species (the Host Tree Species Specificity Hypothesis), by height strata (the Vertical Niche Stratification Hypothesis), and by orientation to the ground. Alternatively, if colonization processes are the primary mediator of epiphyte assembly, propagule availability will be a better predictor of subsequent diversity than microhabitat (the Dispersal Limitation Hypothesis). To test these hypotheses, the Fellow will establish 540 epiphyte-free permanent sampling plots throughout the profile of 30 epiphyte-laden focal trees in both temperate and tropical rainforests, experimentally manipulating substrate height and orientation. Each year, the Fellow will survey all plots to quantify changes in the diversity and composition of the re-establishing epiphyte communities. The work involves collaboration internationally and with the New York Botanical Garden, which will contribute to training in taxonomy, DNA sequencing and provide a new ecosystem. The Fellow will promote diversity in academia via three major aims: 1) Bridging communication for increased Latinx participation; 2) Mentoring undergraduates via hands-on research; and 3) Extending international experiences to underrepresented groups via independent study projects. 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.