Doctoral Dissertation Research: Assessing landscape disturbance and recovery across a WWI battlefield: Verdun, France

博士论文研究：评估第一次世界大战战场的景观干扰和恢复：法国凡尔登

• 批准号: 0424928
• 负责人: Randall Schaetzl
• 金额: $ 1.03万
• 依托单位: Michigan State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2004
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2004-08-15 至 2006-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0424928&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Assessing; landscape

AbstractWarfare and the physical environment have always shared a close and interconnected relationship. Throughout history, warfare has dramatically altered the face of the cultural and physical landscape. Despite this, warfare remains an often overlooked form of anthropogenic disturbance. While a large body of literature examines the ability of the physical environment to influence battle outcomes, a limited degree of research explores the inverse relationship, that is, the various effects of warfare upon the environment. The destruction associated with modern warfare is particularly catastrophic due to the extent, magnitude, and duration of contemporary wars. These large magnitude disturbances radically alter the shape of the landscape, limiting the ability of the landscape to revert back to its original state. By pursuing two research objectives, this dissertation research will examine landscape disturbance and recovery across the World War I battlefield of Verdun, France. The first research objective seeks to characterize the degree of disturbance across the battlefield. Eight study sites will be surveyed that best reflect the varying degrees of disturbance, while maintaining similar environmental characteristics, e.g., bedrock and soil type, across the battlefield. Disturbance magnitude will be determined by sampling the many craters derived from explosive munitions. Crater size and density will be a focus of the sampling, as these are long-lasting indicators of disturbance severity. Additionally, a survey of microtopography at each of the study sites, when presented in slope profile, will be used to compare disturbance magnitude. The microtopographic survey, in each of eight study sites, will record changes in elevation to the nearest centimeter along several transects. The second research objective seeks to characterize and understand spatial patterns of landscape recovery across the battlefield. It is based primarily on parameters associated with soil and vegetation data. Vegetation data will be sampled while surveying landscape disturbance in objective one; these data will reflect species diversity, variety in structure, density, and basal area; i.e. forest stand quality. Soils and their development will be based upon application of the Runge (1973) pedogenic model, which relates soil development to (1) water available for leaching and (2) organic matter production. Soil development will be ascertained by examining the degree of leaching of various cations from the soil profile and the character/amount of organic matter that has accumulated to form the O and A horizons. Also assessed will be soil pH and clay contents, which should correlate to soil development parameters set forth within the model.This study will provide insight into the ability of a landscape to recover following a catastrophic anthropogenic disturbance. Given the controversy surrounding the environmental implications of modern military operations around the world, via both training and actual combat, it is important to examine the impact military disturbances exert on the landscape. Additionally, humans are increasingly reshaping the face of the earth through activities such as mining, logging, intensive agriculture, and warfare. An understanding of landscape recovery through the holistic approach of studying geomorphic, soil, and bio-ecologic factors will help to better manage and restore severely disturbed landscapes in the future. Such work not only promises to open broad avenues of research within the context of geomorphology, it also serves to provide society with a better understanding of how and to what degree landscapes recover, following a catastrophic anthropogenic disturbance such as war.

战争和物理环境一直有着密切的相互联系。纵观历史，战争极大地改变了文化和自然景观的面貌。尽管如此，战争仍然是一种经常被忽视的人为干扰形式。虽然大量的文献研究了物理环境影响战斗结果的能力，但有限程度的研究探讨了相反的关系，即战争对环境的各种影响。由于现代战争的范围、规模和持续时间，与现代战争相关的破坏是特别灾难性的。这些大规模的扰动从根本上改变了景观的形状，限制了景观恢复到原始状态的能力。通过追求两个研究目标，本论文的研究将探讨景观干扰和恢复整个第一次世界大战战场的凡尔登，法国。第一个研究目标是描述整个战场的干扰程度。将调查八个最能反映不同干扰程度的研究地点，同时保持类似的环境特征，例如，基岩和土壤类型，在整个战场。将通过对爆炸性弹药造成的许多弹坑进行取样来确定扰动程度。火山口的大小和密度将是取样的重点，因为它们是扰动严重程度的长期指标。此外，在每个研究地点进行的微地形调查（以坡度剖面表示）将用于比较扰动幅度。在八个研究地点中的每一个进行的微地形调查将记录沿几个横断面的海拔变化，精确到沿着厘米。第二个研究目标旨在描述和了解整个战场景观恢复的空间格局。它主要基于与土壤和植被数据有关的参数。在调查目标一的景观干扰时，将对植被数据进行采样;这些数据将反映物种多样性、结构变化、密度和断面积，即林分质量。土壤及其发育将基于Runge（1973年）成土模型的应用，该模型将土壤发育与（1）可用于沥滤的水和（2）有机物生产联系起来。将通过检查土壤剖面中各种阳离子的沥滤程度以及积累形成O和A层的有机物的特征/数量来确定土壤发育。还将评估土壤pH值和粘土含量，这应该与土壤发育参数内model.This研究中提出的将提供深入了解景观的能力，以恢复灾难性的人为干扰。鉴于围绕世界各地现代军事行动的环境影响的争议，通过训练和实战，重要的是要研究军事干扰对景观的影响。此外，人类正在通过采矿、伐木、集约农业和战争等活动日益重塑地球的面貌。通过研究地貌，土壤和生物生态因素的整体方法来了解景观恢复将有助于更好地管理和恢复严重干扰的景观在未来。这些工作不仅有望在地貌学的背景下开辟广阔的研究途径，还有助于社会更好地了解在战争等灾难性人为干扰之后，景观如何以及在何种程度上恢复。