LTER: Biodiversity, Disturbance and Ecosystem Functioning at the Prairie-Forest Border

LTER：草原-森林边界的生物多样性、干扰和生态系统功能

• 批准号: 0080382
• 负责人: David Tilman
• 金额: $ 420万
• 依托单位: University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2000
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2000-10-15 至 2007-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0080382&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: LTER; Biodiversity; Disturbance; Ecosystem; Functioning

This is a renewal request of the Cedar Creek Natural History Area Long-term Ecological Research project. The nine co-investigators of the Cedar Creek LTER are using theory with long-term experiments and observations to examine (1) controls of biodiversity, community assembly and ecosystem functioning in upland ecosystems at the prairie-forest boundary, (2) the effects of both biodiversity and community composition on ecosystem processes, and (3) the impacts of major perturbations - including climatic variation, nitrogen deposition, elevated CO2, predator suppression, and changes in fire frequency - on species composition, diversity and ecosystem functioning. The approach combines studies of numerous species on several trophic levels with studies of the ecosystem processes that they affect and that affect them. This work is designed to combine and synthesize the often disparate approaches of population, community, and ecosystem ecology. This work will build on an 18-year record of research at this site. These studies focus on the various direct, indirect and feedback processes that control the composition, dynamics, and biodiversity of these grassland and savanna ecosystems, and on the effects of the composition and biodiversity of these ecosystems on their stability and functioning. Specifically, for the next six years, this team will continue and expand on five major sets of long-term research, including experimental and observational studies on biodiversity, nitrogen addition, fire frequency, trophic interactions, and successional dynamics and land use. The results of many of these studies are relevant to society because they will provide a better understanding of the long-term impacts of human actions on ecosystems. For instance, this research will help elucidate the factors that control biodiversity and the effects of the loss of biodiversity on ecosystem functioning. Studies of the impacts of nitrogen addition, of elevated CO2, of fire frequency, and of changes in trophic structure all address issues related to major ways that humans are impacting the environment.

这是雪松溪自然历史区长期生态研究项目的更新请求。雪松溪LTER的九名共同研究者正在使用理论与长期实验和观察来研究（1）草原森林边界高地生态系统中生物多样性，群落组装和生态系统功能的控制，（2）生物多样性和群落组成对生态系统过程的影响，以及（3）主要扰动的影响-包括气候变化，氮沉降，二氧化碳浓度升高、捕食者受到抑制以及火灾频率的变化-对物种组成、多样性和生态系统功能的影响。该方法将对若干营养级上的许多物种的研究与对它们所影响的生态系统过程的研究相结合。这项工作的目的是联合收割机和综合人口，社区和生态系统生态学往往不同的方法。这项工作将建立在该网站18年的研究记录之上。这些研究的重点是控制这些草原和稀树草原生态系统的组成、动态和生物多样性的各种直接、间接和反馈过程，以及这些生态系统的组成和生物多样性对其稳定性和功能的影响。具体而言，在未来六年，该团队将继续并扩大五个主要的长期研究，包括生物多样性，氮添加，火灾频率，营养相互作用，演替动态和土地利用的实验和观察研究。 其中许多研究的结果与社会有关，因为它们将使人们更好地了解人类行动对生态系统的长期影响。例如，这项研究将有助于阐明控制生物多样性的因素以及生物多样性丧失对生态系统功能的影响。对氮添加、CO2升高、火灾频率和营养结构变化的影响的研究都涉及与人类影响环境的主要方式有关的问题。