Search

Considerable progress has been made in ecological and evolutionary genetics with studies demonstrating how genes underlying plant and microbial traits can influence adaptation and even 'extend' to influence community structure and ecosystem level processes. Progress in this area is limited to model systems with deep genetic and genomic resources that often have negligible ecological impact or interest. Thus, important linkages between genetic adaptations and their consequences at organismal and ecological scales are often lacking. Here we introduce the Sphagnome Project, which incorporates genomics into a long-running history of Sphagnum research that has documented unparalleled contributions to peatland ecology, carbon sequestration, biogeochemistry, microbiome research, niche construction, and ecosystem engineering. The Sphagnome Project encompasses a genus-level sequencing effort that represents a new type of model system driven not only by genetic tractability, but by ecologically relevant questions and hypotheses.

To purchase or authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2745.2006.01180.x Byline: BRIAN W. BENSCOTER, DALE H. VITT Keywords: allometry; boreal forest; bryophyte; ground layer production; growth model; growth morphology; modelling; net primary production; Pleurozium schreberi; Ptilium crista-castrensis Abstract: Summary 1 Accurate assessment of net primary production is vital for understanding carbon (C) cycling, both regionally and globally. However, this requires effective methods of measurement that acknowledge the unique characteristics of the subject or area being monitored. 2 Feathermosses dominate the ground layer of boreal upland ecosystems and play a vital role in soil C accumulation, accounting for up to 50% of total photosynthesis. Feathermoss growth is both apical and lateral, with branches of determinate length at maturity produced at consistent frequencies along the stem. 3 Traditional methods of estimating annual production of feathermosses underestimate total plant production because they do not account for lateral growth of the previous year's immature branches. We present a conceptual model of feathermoss growth using Pleurozium schreberi that includes apical and lateral annual growth. From this model, we provide a modified method to more accurately estimate P. schreberi production. The top 3 cm of 10 P. schreberi plants from each of five bog peatlands in Alberta, Canada, were collected. For each plant, distance from the stem apex to branch insertion, branch length and dry mass, and dry mass of 3-mm stem sections were measured and used to define model parameters that, due to lack of significant variability among the sites, can be applied regionally and possibly globally throughout the boreal zone. An additional 20 plants were collected from a sixth site for testing the accuracy of our modified method. 4 Assessment of our method showed an insignificant mean difference between observed and calculated production values. Furthermore, comparison of our method with traditional methods showed a c. 25% underestimation of annual production by the latter. Traditional methods underestimate annual biomass production of P. schreberi by c. 73 g m.sup.-2, accounting for more than 14 Tg C year.sup.-1 across the boreal region. 5 Our study shows that accounting for species-specific growth characteristics when estimating ground layer production has a substantial impact on boreal C budget assessments and therefore the terrestrial C cycle. Article History: Received 22 March 2006 revision accepted 24 August 2006 Handling Editor: Matthew Turnbull Article note: Correspondence: Brian W. Benscoter (tel. +1 618 536 2331; fax +1 618 453 3441; e-mail BBensc01@SIU.edu).