SGER: Temporal Variability in Natural and Anthropogenic Disturbances at McMurdo Station, Antarctica

这笔探索性研究的小额赠款将集中于收集关键的下一组观测数据，这些观测数据将有助于在南极洲麦克默多站的陆地和海洋系统中建立自然和人类引起的环境变异性。根据《南极条约》，各国必须记录人类活动对南极洲的影响。目前项目的探索性是因为最近综合了一个试点项目的结果，该项目需要大量的时间和精力来制定一个统计上可靠的方案设计。该项目迫在眉睫，以便在麦克默多站进入南半球的夏季，评估将为美国南极计划实施的环境监测计划。已经错过了一年的抽样，进一步的差距将损害随着时间推移发现趋势的能力。因此，不可避免的延迟使时间序列数据的连续性处于危险之中；因此，一个季度的采样工作对于研究设计的最终评估至关重要。监测提供所需的客观信息，以便及时和知情地作出有关支助和科学业务的管理决定。理解人类在自然系统中引起的变化的一个基本原则是，这些变化是在自然变异性的背景下发生的，无论是否存在人为扰动。除非定义了自然变异性，否则不能明确地确定变化的原因。可变性发生在空间和时间的连续体上，这需要长期的观察来确定系统属性的变化。以前对麦克默多站环境空间变异性的研究为确定陆地和海洋系统的时间变异性程度提供了机会。将在定点和随机采样点收集163个陆地样本，用于碳氢化合物、痕量金属和碳分析。将对空间站近海三个站的三个横断面进行化学污染物、沉积物性质、底栖生物组合的采样，并进行毒性分析。这些数据将通过多变量统计进行分析，以确定时间变异性，并测试较长期观测方案的设计要素。这些研究将增加我们对物理、化学和生物过程的理解，这些过程对于定义系统在空间和时间上的可变性至关重要。该项目的更广泛影响是多方面的。这项研究将满足国内法和《南极条约环境议定书》对环境保护的国家和国际要求。实地活动的开展和样本分析将用于在实验室培训本科生和研究生。该项目将是地球科学学院“采用学校计划”的一部分，该计划允许K-12年级的学生从开始到完成都与该计划互动并遵循该计划，特别是在实地活动期间。实地活动近乎实时地记录在万维网上。

This Small Grant for Exploratory Research will focus on the collection of the crucial next set of observations that will aid in establishing natural and human induced environmental variability in terrestrial and marine systems at McMurdo Station, Antarctica. Under the Antarctic Treaty, nations are required to document the impacts of human activity in Antarctica. The exploratory nature of the current project results from the recent synthesis of results from a pilot project that required extensive time and effort to develop a statistically robust program design. The project has extreme urgency in order to access the austral summer season at McMurdo Station to evaluate an environmental monitoring program to be implemented for the U.S. Antarctic Program. One year of sampling has already been missed and further gaps will compromise the ability to detect trends over time. Thus, the unavoidable delay put the continuity of the time series data in jeopardy; therefore, a one season sampling effort is critical for a final assessment of the study design. Monitoring provides the objective information needed to make timely and informed management decisions regarding support and science operations. A basic precept in understanding human induced changes in natural systems is that they occur against a back drop of natural variability that would occur whether or not there was an anthropogenic perturbation. The causes of change cannot be unambiguously determined unless natural variability is defined. Variability occurs across a continuum of space and time that requires long-term observations to identify changes in system attributes. Previous studies of the spatial variability of the McMurdo Station environment provide an opportunity to establish the extent of temporal variability in terrestrial and marine systems. A series of 163 terrestrial samples will be collected for hydrocarbons, trace metals and carbon analyses at fixed point and random sample locations. Three transects of three stations offshore of the station will be sampled for chemical contaminants, sediment properties, benthic infaunal assemblages, and assayed for toxicity. The data will be analyzed by multi-variate statistics to establish temporal variability and test the design elements of a longer term program of observations. These studies will increase our understanding of the physical, chemical, and biological processes that are critical in defining system variability over space and time. The broader impacts of the project are multi-faceted. The study will fulfill both national and international requirements for environmental protection under domestic law and the Protocol on the Environment of the Antarctic Treaty. The conduct of the field activities and the analysis of samples will be used to train undergraduate and graduate students in the laboratory. The project will be a part of the College of Geosciences' "Adopt a School Program" that allows K-12 students to interact with and follow the program from initiation to completion, especially during the field activities. The field activities are chronicled in near real-time on the World Wide Web.