Project Grant 2224832

This five-year, $446,360 project grant from the National Science Foundation's Biological Sciences program (CFDA 47.074) will fund research quantifying functional diversity among mixotrophic and heterotrophic microbes in the ocean. The University of Hawaii at Manoa will examine how mixotrophy, the ability to photosynthesize and consume other microbes, changes energy and nutrient flows through microbial food webs. Researchers will conduct in situ and laboratory experiments comparing predation rates and nutrient transfer of diverse mixotrophs and heterotrophs on common bacterial prey. They will analyze global data to assess how mixotrophic and heterotrophic taxa abundances shift with environmental factors like stratification. Mathematical models will test if observed patterns match theoretical predictions. Results aim to further understanding of microbial food webs and project community and ecosystem changes from global warming. The award also supports graduate and undergraduate student training in integrative biodiversity science through field, lab and modeling work. An educational game will promote science outreach. Funding began October 1, 2022.