NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology: How do dominant species mediate elevational range shifts for subordinate species?

Duchicela, Sisimac A, Austin TX

Investigators

Abstract

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2022, Broadening Participation of Groups Underrepresented in Biology. The Fellowship supports a research and training plan for the Fellow that will increase the participation of groups underrepresented in biology. Environmental change is expected to cause major shifts in plant species ranges. It is important to understand the direction and consequence of those shifts. Plant ranges are predicted to move towards the poles and higher elevations. However, previous research suggests plant populations are following different trajectories, including no change, or shifting in the opposite direction than predicted. Therefore, it appears that factors such as how plants interact with each other must be considered for making predictions about changing plant species ranges. With this research, the fellow aims to increase the understanding of how plant communities will be altered in a changing climate and how plant interactions shape those changes. Mountain ecosystems in temperate regions have been studied. Here the fellow will expand knowledge by investigating tropical mountain ecosystems in the Andes to analyze range changes and test ecological theories. This study will make contributions to the fields of community ecology and global change biology while strengthening international collaborations between US scientists and scientists from Andean countries, with an emphasis on Ecuador. One key factor affecting the shift in plant ranges may be how the presence or absence of a dominant species will affect the subordinate species in their new range. If the dominant species is absent from the novel community, the abundance and diversity of subordinate species may be reduced or enhanced if the dominant species primarily acts as a facilitator or competitor, respectively. To test these concepts, the fellow will transplant naturally occurring turfs in the Ecuadorian Andes to higher elevations, artificially warm some of the turfs using open top chambers and remove the dominant species from some turfs. Functional traits, growth forms, of the plant species will be tested to determine whether these traits aid in predicting the response of the subordinate species to the presence or absence of the dominant species under the new (elevated and/or warmer) conditions. This research will expand the fellow’s research expertise and will provide opportunities for Ecuadorian postdocs, researchers, and students to participate in biological research. 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.