Oct. 12, 2010

Bradley J. Cardinale, who joins SNRE's faculty in January, has received a $2-million National Science Foundation grant as part of the agency's efforts to expand knowledge and understanding of Earth's biodiversity.

Assistant Professor Cardinale is the principal investigator on a project titled, "Can evolutionary history predict how changes in biodiversity impact the productivity of ecosystems?" He and his colleagues will examine how evolutionary processes among algae generate and maintain the diversity of genes, and whether genetic diversity can explain the productivity of freshwater lakes.

"While the world is filled with a spectacular variety of life, loss of this biodiversity is one of the most pronounced forms of environmental change in the modern era," said Assistant Professor Cardinale, an aquatics specialist. "The goal of this project is to determine which species are genetically irreplaceable, and therefore, which species extinctions  are likely to have the greatest impacts on primary production—“ a fundamentally important process needed to sustain most all life on the planet."

The group will perform laboratory and field experiments that will determine how evolution leads to genetic divergence and niche differences among species. Then, they will examine how niche differences lead to an ecological "division of labor" among species that determines how efficiently biological communities produce new biomass.

His grant was one of 14 funded under NSF's Dimensions of Biodiversity campaign, which is expected to transform how scientists describe and understand the role and scope of life on Earth. According to NSF, the campaign seeks to promote novel and integrated approaches to identifying and comprehending the evolutionary and ecological significance of biodiversity in todayí¢â‚¬â„¢s changing environment and in the geologic past.

"Dimensions of Biodiversity is accelerating the pace of biodiversity research and discovery, and enables scientists to think at grand scales," states Joann Roskoski, acting director of NSF's Directorate for Biological Sciences.