Collaborative Research: The effect of landscape context on the sensitivity of vegetation to climate change

该项目使用湖泊沉积物中的花粉和木炭来研究土壤质地和防火带如何影响橡树和松树为主的生态系统对过去7000年气候变化的反应。以往的研究结果表明，在过去的2000年中，在威斯康星州西北部的450平方公里的沙地平原上的植被和火的制度是显着的动态。景观中的各个地点对相对较小的气候变化的反应不同。白松在小冰河时期在大多数地点增加，显然是由于土壤质地和丰富的湖泊和其他防火带的轻微差异。 目前的研究扩展了研究的时间范围，包括更极端的气候变化，并测试了土壤类型，防火带和植被反馈在确定当地植被的反应的重要性的假设。预测当地植被对气候变化的响应是生态系统模拟的一个重要目标。联邦、州和县机构都在积极参与正在研究的地区的松树贫瘠地生境恢复，这项工作的结果将直接适用于建立现实的恢复目标和管理战略。 来自路德学院，明尼苏达大学和威斯康星州大学的学生将参加一个协作学习环境中，在收集和解释环境变化的长期记录的技能被应用到有关生态系统管理的问题。

This project uses pollen and charcoal in lake sediments to ask how soil texture and firebreaks influenced the response of oak- and pine-dominated ecosystems to climatic changes of the past 7000 years. Previous results demonstrate that during the last 2000 years the vegetation and fire regimes on a 450 square kilometer sand plain in northwestern Wisconsin were remarkably dynamic. Individual sites within the landscape responded differently to relatively small climatic changes. White pine increased during the Little Ice Age at most sites, apparently due to slight differences in soil texture and the abundance of lakes and other firebreaks. The current research extends the time period studied to include more extreme climatic changes, and tests hypotheses about the importance of soil types, firebreaks, and vegetation feedbacks in determining the response of local vegetation. Predicting the response of local vegetation to climate change is an important goal of ecosystem modeling. Federal, state and county agencies are actively engaged in pine barrens habitat restoration in the area being studied, and the results of this work will be directly applicable to establishing realistic restoration goals and management strategies. Students from Luther College, the University of Minnesota, and the University of Wisconsin will participate in a collaborative learning environment in which skills in collection and interpretation of long-term records of environmental change are applied to questions about ecosystem management.