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

这笔赠款将用于支持缅因州的熊溪流域（BBWM），该流域已就大气硫和氮沉积对森林的影响进行了约20年的研究。 研究在两个流域进行，每个流域由一级河流排水。 一种是每两个月用直升机处理一次，以模拟硫和氮的大气沉降。 在过去的20年里，这项研究已经确定和验证了森林对空气污染反应的关键因素，并揭示了我们理解的主要差距，这些差距对于确定《清洁空气法》及其1990年修正案下当前和未来潜在法规的成功至关重要。 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，新的生态响应机制正在出现，只能通过长期，数十年的研究进行调查。该项目的更广泛影响包括培养未来的科学领导者的本科生和研究生。 这项研究提供了整个生态系统对模拟空气污染物的化学处理的反应的直接证据，提供了控制实验室研究不可能得到的结果。 酸沉降问题仍然是森林生态系统健康和水质的一个关切问题。 气候和酸沉降之间也有直接的相互作用，世界上很少有实地研究地点准备研究。 这项研究直接解决了今天和未来的信息需求。

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.