LTREB: Biogeochemical Mechanisms of Response in the Third Decade of Whole-Ecosystem Experimental Manipulations at the Bear Brook Watershed in Maine (BBWM)

这笔赠款将支持缅因州贝尔布鲁克分水岭(BBWM)，该分水岭已经对大气硫和氮沉积对森林的影响进行了大约20年的研究。这项研究是在两个流域进行的，每个流域都由一级溪流排干。一种是用直升机每两个月处理一次，以模拟大气中硫和氮的沉积。在过去的20年里，这项研究确定并验证了影响森林应对空气污染的关键因素，也揭示了我们在认识上的重大差距，这些差距对于确定根据《清洁空气法》及其1990年修正案制定的现行法规和潜在的未来法规是否成功至关重要。最近的研究还在研究气候如何与其他空气污染物相互作用，以确定水质和森林健康。这笔赠款将支持该项目进入第三个十年，在这个十年中，新的生态反应机制正在出现，只有通过长期、数十年的研究才能进行调查。该项目的更广泛影响包括培养本科生和研究生，他们将成为未来的科学领袖。这项研究提供了全生态系统对模拟空气污染物的化学处理反应的直接证据，提供了受控实验室研究不可能得到的结果。酸沉降问题仍然是对森林生态系统健康和水质的关切。气候和酸沉降之间的直接相互作用也是世界上很少有实地研究地点准备研究的。这项研究直接解决了当前和未来的这些信息需求。

This grant will support the Bear Brook Watershed in Maine (BBWM) where research has been conducted for approximately 20 years on the effects of atmospheric sulfur and nitrogen deposition on forests. The research is conducted on two watersheds, each drained by a first order stream. One is treated bimonthly by helicopter to simulate atmospheric deposition of sulfur and nitrogen. Over the past 20 years, this research has identified and verified key factors governing forest response to air pollution, and also revealed major gaps in our understanding that are critical to determining the success of current and potential future regulations under the Clean Air Act and its amendments of 1990. Recent research is also studying how climate interacts with other air pollutants to determine water quality and forest health. This grant will support the project into the third decade where new ecological response mechanisms are emerging that can only be investigated by long-term, multi-decadal research. The broader impacts of this project include the training of undergraduate and graduate students who will be the scientific leaders of tomorrow. This research provides direct evidence of whole-ecosystem responses to chemical treatments that simulate air pollutants providing results not possible from controlled laboratory studies. The issue of acid deposition remains a concern for forest ecosystem health and water quality. There are also direct interactions between climate and acid deposition that few field research sites in the world are prepared to study. This research directly addresses those information needs for today and the future.