This Project Grant from the National Science Foundation Division of Environmental Biology provides $283,627 to the Regents of the University of Minnesota, doing business as the University of Minnesota Duluth, to support research under the Biological Sciences federal grant program (CFDA 47.074).
The award will fund research from January 1, 2023 through December 31, 2027 to develop and test an integrated framework for understanding how global changes are influencing plant traits in ways that impact ecosystem and population stability. Key activities include theoretical modeling, greenhouse and field experiments using seeds from long-term biodiversity studies, and engagement of students and teachers. The research aims to advance knowledge of how plant species traits and interactions determine community resistance and resilience to environmental change. Insights gained could improve predictions of how global changes may stabilize or destabilize ecosystems and populations over the long term.