Long-Term Drivers, State Change and Disturbance on the Virginia Coast Reserve: LTER V

弗吉尼亚海岸保护区的长期驱动因素、状态变化和干扰：LTER V

• 批准号: 0621014
• 负责人: Karen McGlathery
• 金额: $ 492万
• 依托单位: University of Virginia Main Campus
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2006
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2006-12-15 至 2014-11-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0621014&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Long; Term; Drivers; State; Change

Humans are altering ecosystems at unprecedented rates, especially in the coastal zone. The Virginia Coast Reserve (VCR) LTER aims to develop predictive understanding of how long-term environmental change and short-term disturbances control the dynamic nature of coastal barrier landscapes. The landscape is heterogeneous, comprised of mainland watersheds, tidal marshes, lagoons and barrier islands. The central hypothesis is that ecosystem dynamics and pattern on the landscape are controlled by the interactions of vertical positions of the land, sea, and groundwater free surfaces, and the fluxes of organisms and materials across the landscape. Proposed and continuing research is organized around synthetic questions: (1) How do long-term drivers of change (climate, rising sea level, and land-use change) and short-term disturbances interact to alter ecosystem dynamics and state change, and how is their effect modified by internal processes and feedbacks at the local scale? (2) How do fluxes of organisms and materials across the landscape influence ecosystem dynamics and state change? (3) In the future, what will be the structure of the landscape and what processes will drive state changes? The first question is a continuation of past VCR research, while the latter questions are new. Modeling and process-level studies also address the biogeochemical and trophic consequences of state change on the landscape. The project uses a combination of long-term monitoring and experiments, shorter-term process studies, and modeling. Patterns, processes and interactions are examined within landscape units (watershed, tidal marsh, lagoon, barrier island), within mainland-lagoon-island box transects, and across the entire system of islands and lagoons. Processes are considered at temporal scales from hours (e.g., element cycling) to decades (e.g., succession) to more than a century (e.g., sea-level rise). Research includes ecologists, hydrologists, biogeochemists, atmospheric scientists, oceanographers, modelers, and specialists in remote sensing and informatics.Understanding and predicting how multiple factors influence ecosystems and their services are critical challenges for environmental scientists and resource managers. VCR is a relatively pristine coastal system that can be compared with other sites to understand how coastal systems in general respond to drivers of global change. VCR has been very active in outreach, training and network activities. Its Schoolyard Program contributes important training and infrastructure to the primary and secondary schools in the local county, which is one of the poorest in the state; over half the students are women and minorities. Training of future environmental scientists through graduate programs at participating institutions is one of the priorities of the program. Each funding cycle VCR trains over 40 graduate students and about 20 undergraduates, about half of which are women and minorities. Scientific findings and technical information are broadly disseminated through the VCR website, scientific publications and presentations, and the media. VCR has developed links with conservation organizations, and local, state, and federal agencies through outreach efforts. VCR also has a strong partnership with The Nature Conservancy to address the important management and conservation problems facing this region. This puts VCR in an excellent position to provide a solid, scientific foundation for making decisions related to planning, management, and ecosystem restoration. This partnership can also serve as a model for science-based management of other dynamic coastal barrier systems.

人类正在以前所未有的速度改变生态系统，尤其是在沿海地区。弗吉尼亚海岸保护区（VCR） LTER旨在发展对长期环境变化和短期干扰如何控制海岸屏障景观动态性质的预测性理解。这里的景观是异质的，由大陆流域、潮汐沼泽、泻湖和堰洲岛组成。其核心假设是，景观上的生态系统动态和格局是由陆地、海洋和地下水自由表面的垂直位置以及景观上生物和物质的通量相互作用控制的。提出的和正在进行的研究是围绕以下综合问题组织起来的：(1)长期变化驱动因素（气候、海平面上升和土地利用变化）和短期干扰如何相互作用以改变生态系统动态和状态变化，以及它们的影响如何被局部尺度的内部过程和反馈所修正？(2)景观中生物和物质的通量如何影响生态系统的动态和状态变化？(3)未来的景观结构将是怎样的，什么样的过程将驱动状态的变化？第一个问题是过去录像机研究的延续，而后两个问题是新的。建模和过程水平的研究也解决了状态变化对景观的生物地球化学和营养后果。该项目采用长期监测和实验、短期过程研究和建模相结合的方法。在景观单元（分水岭、潮汐沼泽、泻湖、堰洲岛）、大陆-泻湖-岛屿盒子样带以及整个岛屿和泻湖系统中，研究模式、过程和相互作用。在时间尺度上考虑过程，从小时（例如，元素循环）到几十年（例如，演替）到一个多世纪（例如，海平面上升）。研究人员包括生态学家、水文学家、生物地球化学家、大气科学家、海洋学家、建模师以及遥感和信息学专家。了解和预测多种因素如何影响生态系统及其服务是环境科学家和资源管理者面临的关键挑战。VCR是一个相对原始的沿海系统，可以与其他站点进行比较，以了解沿海系统总体上如何应对全球变化的驱动因素。VCR一直非常积极地开展外联、培训和网络活动。它的校园计划为当地县的中小学提供了重要的培训和基础设施，这是该州最贫穷的县之一；超过一半的学生是女性和少数民族。通过参与机构的研究生课程培训未来的环境科学家是该计划的重点之一。每个资助周期VCR培训40多名研究生和约20名本科生，其中约一半是妇女和少数民族。科学发现和技术信息通过VCR网站、科学出版物和简报以及媒体广泛传播。VCR通过外联努力与保护组织、地方、州和联邦机构建立了联系。VCR还与大自然保护协会建立了牢固的伙伴关系，以解决该地区面临的重要管理和保护问题。这使得VCR处于一个绝佳的位置，为规划、管理和生态系统恢复相关的决策提供了坚实、科学的基础。这种伙伴关系也可以作为其他动态海岸屏障系统的科学管理模式。