NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2021: How does arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi impact pollination and plant fitness in an anthropogenically disturbed environment?

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2021, Integrative Research Investigating the Rules of Life Governing Interactions Between Genomes, Environment, and Phenotypes. The fellowship supports research and training of the Fellow that will contribute to the area of Rules of Life in innovative ways. The research will focus on mutualistic interactions between plants, pollinators, and soil-dwelling arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi.

The plant-pollinator mutualism may be altered decades after anthropogenic disturbances, like surface mining. Plants growing in soils contaminated by mining may lack the resources needed to invest in floral traits attractive to pollinators. However, the presence of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi could lessen the negative effects of soil contamination on attractive traits.

Interactions between the plant-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and plant-pollinator mutualisms in reclaimed surface mines remain largely unexplored. This research will illuminate how arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi promote attractive floral traits and pollinator visitation, which in turn contribute to plant persistence. The Fellow will disseminate the outcomes in many venues, from national meetings to student-led science clubs at The Ohio State University.

Additionally, the outcomes will be used to design guest lectures and a lab module with quantitative and active learning components for undergraduate biology courses; through the research, the Fellow will mentor undergraduate students from underrepresented groups. Given the extensive impacts of anthropogenic disturbances on natural environments, understanding the role that mutualists play in alleviating the negative effects of these disturbances is a key lesson for researchers and students of ecology alike.

The research has two aims. The first is to characterize the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal mutualists of ten plant species reflective of the plant diversity at The Wilds, a conservation park with a history of surface mining in Cumberland, Ohio. The second aim is to determine: 1) whether arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi promote attractive floral traits of one of the focal plant species and subsequently increase pollinator visitation and plant fitness and 2) whether the fungi mitigate the negative effect of anthropogenic disturbance on the plant-pollinator mutualism via the promotion of floral traits like phenology, color, scent, and nectar quantity.

It is hypothesized that plants growing with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi will have more attractive floral traits, higher pollinator visitation, and higher fitness such that the effect will be greatest when soil contamination is also present. In addition, the guest lectures and lab module will be planned with the best pedagogical practices for increasing equity and inclusion in the classroom.

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.