Macrosystems Soil Temperature and Soil Moisture at NWT, CWT, HFR, HJA, LUQ, and BCI - 2011-2013

Patterns of biodiversity, such as the increase toward the tropics and the peaked curve during ecological succession, are fundamental phenomena for ecology. Such patterns have multiple, interacting causes, but temperature emerges as a dominant factor across organisms from microbes to trees and mammals, and across terrestrial, marine, and freshwater environments. However, there is little consensus on the underlying mechanisms, even as global temperatures increase and the need to predict their effects becomes more pressing. The purpose of this project is to generate and test theory for how temperature impacts biodiversity through its effect on biochemical processes and metabolic rate. A combination of standardized surveys in the field and controlled experiments in the field and laboratory measure diversity of three taxa -- trees, invertebrates, and microbes -- and key biogeochemical processes of decomposition in seven forests distributed along a geographic gradient of increasing temperature from cold temperate to warm tropical. Readings of soil temperature and soil moisture were taken from all five Gentry tree plots at each of the six macrosystems project experimental sites (HJ Andrews, Coweeta, Harvard Forest, Luquillo, Niwot Ridge, and Barro Colorado Island), recorded by a HOBO device installed by the Enquist Lab (University of Arizona) as part of this macrosystems biodiversity and latitude project supported by the National Science Foundation under Cooperative Agreement DEB#1065836.

生物多样性分布格局——诸如向热带地区递增的分布规律以及生态演替过程中的单峰分布曲线特征——是生态学领域的核心基础现象。这类格局的成因复杂且彼此相互关联，但从微生物、树木到哺乳动物的各类生物，以及陆地、海洋与淡水各类生境中，温度均为主导性驱动因子。然而，尽管全球气温持续上升，预测其影响的需求愈发迫切，学界对其背后的潜在机制仍未达成广泛共识。本项目旨在构建并检验相关理论，以阐明温度如何通过影响生化过程与代谢速率，进而作用于生物多样性。本研究结合野外标准化调查与野外、室内受控实验，对沿温度梯度（从寒温带至暖热带）分布的7片森林中的3个类群——树木、无脊椎动物与微生物——的多样性，以及关键的分解生物地球化学过程进行测定。本项目的6个大型生态系统实验站点（HJ安德鲁斯、考伊塔、哈佛森林、卢基洛、尼沃特岭以及巴罗科罗拉多岛）的全部5个金特里（Gentry）树木样地中，均采集了土壤温度与土壤湿度数据；这些数据由亚利桑那大学（University of Arizona）恩奎斯特实验室（Enquist Lab）安装的HOBO设备记录，作为本大型生态系统生物多样性与纬度项目的一部分，该项目由美国国家科学基金会（National Science Foundation）通过合作协议DEB#1065836资助。