anthoDiv - Linking organismal and genetic diversity of floral microbiomes to ecosystem properties and functional plant traits

• Applicants: Professor Dr. Robert R. Junker; Professor Dr. Alexander Keller
• Subject Area: Ecology and Biodiversity of Plants and Ecosystems ; Microbial Ecology and Applied Microbiology
• Term: from 2017 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 324932882

Bacterial communities associated to above-ground plant parts are crucial for plant health. The composition of these is considered to be determined by their original sources such as soil but also by plant traits as the availability of carbon and nitrogen or the composition of secondary metabolites. Although flowers are directly linked to plant fitness and reproduction, bacterial colonizers of the anthosphere are less well characterized and their ecological roles are less well understood compared to bacteria associated with leaves. Additionally, the determinants of their diversity as well as their responses to environmental gradients such as variation in land-use intensity are unknown. By using the hierarchical organization of the biodiversity exploratories, we are planning to investigate the organismal and genetic alpha-, beta- and gamma- diversity of floral microbiomes as a function of land-use, plant diversity, and functional flower traits such as floral scents and the availability of carbon and nitrogen in order to understand links between these different levels of biodiversity. These data will allow us to gauge the relative importance of environmental and plant-based factors. Thus, our results will provide a novel perspective on associations between bacteria and flowers and help to understand effects of anthropogenic alterations of the environment on organismal and genetic diversity.

• DFG Programme: Infrastructure Priority Programmes
• Subproject of: SPP 1374: Biodiversity Exploratories
• International Connection: Austria
• Co-Investigator: Professor Dr. Raimund Tenhaken