Plant-Biocrust Interactions Mediated by the Fungal Loop Eva Dettweiler-Robinson University of New Mexico
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University of New Mexico UNM Digital Repository Biology ETDs Electronic Theses and Dissertations Fall 11-15-2016 Plant-biocrust interactions mediated by the fungal loop Eva Dettweiler-Robinson University of New Mexico Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/biol_etds Part of the Biology Commons, Desert Ecology Commons, and the Environmental Microbiology and Microbial Ecology Commons Recommended Citation Dettweiler-Robinson, Eva. "Plant-biocrust interactions mediated by the fungal loop." (2016). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/ biol_etds/154 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Electronic Theses and Dissertations at UNM Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Biology ETDs by an authorized administrator of UNM Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Eva Dettweiler-Robinson 1 Candidate 2 3 Department of Biology 4 Department 5 6 7 This dissertation is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication: 8 9 Approved by the Dissertation Committee: 10 11 12 Jennifer A. Rudgers, Co- Chairperson 13 14 15 Robert L. Sinsabaugh, Co- Chairperson 16 17 18 D. Lee Taylor 19 20 21 Matthew Bowker 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 i PLANT-BIOCRUST INTERACTIONS MEDIATED BY THE FUNGAL LOOP 41 42 By 43 44 EVA DETTWEILER-ROBINSON 45 46 Bachelor of Arts, Biology, Colgate University, 2005 47 Master of Science, College of Forest Resources, University of Washington, 2011 48 49 50 DISSERTATION 51 52 Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the 53 Requirements for the Degree of 54 Doctor of Philosophy in Biology 55 The University of New Mexico 56 Albuquerque, New Mexico 57 58 59 November, 2015 60 ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 61 I acknowledge my co-advisors, Dr. Jenn Rudgers and Dr. Bob Sinsabaugh for 62 pushing me to think critically, constantly seek to improve, and see past my mistakes to 63 what I can meaningfully contribute. I acknowledge my committee members Dr. Lee 64 Taylor and Dr. Matt Bowker for invaluable feedback on this manuscript and many other 65 projects. I appreciate many members of the faculty at University of New Mexico, 66 especially Dr. Marcy Litvak, Dr. Felisa Smith, Dr. Seth Newsome, Dr. Blair Wolf, Dr. 67 Ken Whitney, Dr. Dave Hanson, Dr. Scott Collins, and many others. I appreciate the 68 Rudgers-Whitney and Sinsabaugh lab members, the Center for Stable Isotopes, the 69 Fungal Ecology group, and the STEM-Gateway redesign team. I appreciate financial 70 support for PiBBs, UNM Biology Department, Biology Graduate Student Association, 71 the Sevilleta LTER fellowship, the CSI pilot grant program, the NSF Doctoral 72 Dissertation Improvement Grant program. 73 I appreciate Ernie Polansky for getting me interested in science in 10th grade by 74 having the nerve to give me a B on a mid-semester report, and then opening up the world 75 once I was ready to see it. I appreciate my parents and sister for emotional support and 76 unpaid labor. I appreciate my partner Aaron for feeding me, laughing with me, and letting 77 me be a little nuts. I appreciate Grace for being silly, elaborately over-dressed, and facing 78 tough questions together. Gina sent me coffee and photos of her beautiful children to 79 keep me uplifted. Karles and Sabrina helped with field work and I can’t say for sure, but 80 maybe it contributed to them eventually getting married. And you can’t beat the 81 Mediocre Jazz Band and Sweet Jubilee for having a creative outlet that also can give 82 excellent law advice or poster editing. Thank you all so much. 83 iii PLANT-BIOCRUST INTERACTIONS MEDIATED BY THE FUNGAL LOOP 84 by 85 Eva Dettweiler-Robinson 86 87 Bachelor of Arts, Biology, Colgate University, 2005 88 Master of Science, College of Forest Resources, University of Washington, 2011 89 Doctor of Philosophy in Biology, University of New Mexico, 2016 90 91 ABSTRACT 92 93 Plant-microbial interactions influence biogeochemical cycles. Plants and biological soil 94 crusts are primary producers in drylands. Biocrusts include cyanobacteria, lichens, 95 mosses, algae, fungi, bacteria, and archaea on the soil surface, some of which fix 96 atmospheric nitrogen. I investigated controls on biocrust carbon fluxes and their 97 contribution to ecosystem fluxes, the incorporation of plant-derived carbon into biocrusts, 98 and the role of soil fungi in promoting performance of plants and biocrusts. Biocrusts 99 responded to temperature and moisture differently by biome. Biocrusts in 100 grasslands/shrublands contributed >25% of total summertime ecosystem respiration, but 101 biocrusts in savannas/woodlands contributed <1%. Biocrusts contributed <2% to GPP in 102 any biome. To augment their native photosynthesis, biocrusts may include 16% plant- 103 derived carbon. Fungal connections improved plant and biocrust performance and 104 reduced differences in the CN ratio between organisms compared to when connections 105 were impeded. Investigation of interactions among biocrusts, plants, and fungi has 106 improved understanding of resource cycling in drylands. 107 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS 108 CHAPTER 1: BIOCRUST CONTRIBUTION TO ECOSYSTEM RESPIRATION 109 EXCEEDS CONTRIBUTION TO GROSS PRIMARY PRODUCTION AND VARIES BY 110 BIOME .................................................................................................................................... 1 111 ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................................... 1 112 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................... 2 113 METHODS ...................................................................................................................................... 4 114 RESULTS ...................................................................................................................................... 12 115 DISCUSSION .................................................................................................................................. 14 116 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................................... 17 117 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................................. 18 118 FIGURES ....................................................................................................................................... 26 119 TABLES ........................................................................................................................................ 31 120 SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL ............................................................................................................ 35 121 CHAPTER 2: 13C SIGNATURE OF BIOLOGICAL SOIL CRUSTS IS DEPLETED NEXT 122 TO C3 PLANTS SUGGESTING MIXOTROPHY ............................................................... 45 123 ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................... 45 124 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................. 45 125 METHODS .................................................................................................................................... 48 126 RESULTS ...................................................................................................................................... 53 127 DISCUSSION .................................................................................................................................. 55 128 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. .................................................................................................................. 59 129 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................................. 60 130 FIGURES ....................................................................................................................................... 69 131 SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL ............................................................................................................ 72 132 CHAPTER 3: FUNGAL CONNECTIONS BETWEEN PLANTS AND BIOCRUSTS 133 IMPROVE PERFORMANCE AND RESOURCE CONTENT: A TEST OF THE FUNGAL 134 LOOP HYPOTHESIS IN DRYLANDS ................................................................................ 73 135 ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................... 73 136 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................. 74 137 METHODS .................................................................................................................................... 78 138 RESULTS ...................................................................................................................................... 88 139 DISCUSSION .................................................................................................................................. 93 140 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................................. 97 141 FIGURES ....................................................................................................................................