SBIR Phase I: Spray-on Biological Soil Crusts for Arid Land Restoration

这一小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段研究项目将开发一种将现场来源的生物土壤结皮(BSC)接种剂喷洒到退化的干旱土地上的过程，以促进更有效的恢复。由于能源勘探、环境干扰(如火灾)和各种土地使用做法(如放牧)造成的环境退化，在美国干旱的西部地区造成了越来越困难的条件，要想永久恢复这种条件的成本也高得惊人。为了避免生态系统崩溃和荒漠化，联邦监管机构和私营企业愿意也有义务恢复这些退化的土地。尽管它们在干旱生态系统中起着关键的生态作用，但目前还没有有效和负担得起的方法或产品将BSC接种到受干扰的土地上。为了评估喷雾接种的可行性，将分离生态型特定的BSC生物，优化BSC生物的非原位培养，并在类似田间条件下测试接种剂的修复潜力。在西方，需要一种可持续的一次性应用一种促进当地多样性的产品，同时实现土壤稳定和杂草减少是当务之急。未来10年，将有10万口油气井计划在西部各州的公共土地上建设，其中5.1万口将在怀俄明州钻探。一年生杂草和非原生多年生草本植物的入侵严重改变了西方的火灾制度。因此，每年有数百万英亩的土地被烧毁。不幸的是，目前的技术无法有效地恢复这些受损的土地。加利福尼亚州最近经历了一些有记录以来代价最高的火灾。在怀俄明州，能源行业将在未来10年花费3亿美元开垦油井。科罗拉多州、犹他州和新墨西哥州也将花费类似的金额。2007年，西部各州BLM将购买140万磅种子用于修复，估计成本为5000万美元。喷雾平衡计分卡在满足美国西部修复市场对改进修复技术的需求方面具有巨大的潜力。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I research project will develop a process for spraying site sourced biological soil crusts (BSC) inoculants onto degraded arid lands in order to facilitate more efficient restoration. Environmental degradation due to energy exploration, environmental disturbances (e.g. fire), and various land use practices (e.g. grazing) have created conditions in the arid west region of the United States that are increasingly difficult and exceedingly costly to restore with any permanence. To avoid ecosystem collapse and desertification, federal regulatory agencies and private industry are willing and obligated to restore these degraded lands. Despite their critical ecological role in arid ecosystems, there are no available methods or products for efficiently and affordably inoculating BSC onto disturbed lands. To gauge the feasibility of spray-on inoculant delivery, ecotype specific BSC organisms will be isolated, ex situ culture of BSC organisms will be optimized, and the restoration potential of inoculants will be tested under field-like conditions. In the West, the need for a sustainable one time application of a product that promotes native diversity while achieving soil stabilization and weed abatement are of immediate concern. Over the course of the next decade, 100,000 oil and gas wells are slated for construction on public lands across western states, of which 51,000 will be drilled in Wyoming. Invasion of annual weeds and non-native perennial grasses such as cheatgrass and crested wheatgrass have severely altered western fire regimes. Consequently millions of acres burn each year. Unfortunately, current technology is not able to effectively restore these damaged lands. California recently experienced some of the most costly fires on record. In Wyoming, the energy industry will spend $300 million to reclaim wells over the next 10 years. Similar sums will be spent in Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico. In 2007, the western states BLM will purchase 1.4 million pounds of seed for restoration at an estimated cost of $50 million. Spray-on BSC has great potential to meet the western U.S. restoration market's demand for improved restoration technology.