SGER: Collaborative Research: Contribution of the 2008 Midwestern Flood to Gulf Hypoxia

该SGER奖是为应对中西部创纪录的洪水而进行的紧急研究，该洪水为墨西哥湾提供了大量营养物质，加剧了缺氧。研究人员将通过综合他们自己和其他研究人员的监测数据，对洪水峰顶的营养通量进行质量平衡。他们已经确定并列出了关于海湾缺氧的发展和缓解的关键科学问题，并制定了一个主导假设，即创纪录的洪水导致了营养负荷的峰值，这将反过来导致海湾有史以来最大的缺氧。他们的研究将验证这一假设。墨西哥湾缺氧是由美国许多地区的景观和河流流域过量的氮和磷输出引起的广泛的沿海富营养化的典型。这项研究将在美国各地具有广泛的适用性，有助于了解洪水事件对营养驱动因素的作用，并可能在洪水高峰期提出更有效的政策和管理策略。

CBET-0843220RabalaisThis SGER award is for urgent research in response to a record Midwestern flood that is contributing large fluxes of nutrients to the Gulf of Mexico, exacerbating hypoxia. The investigators will perform mass balances on nutrient fluxes along the crest of the flood by synthesizing their own monitoring data and that of other researchers. They have identified and listed key science questions that remain regarding the development and mitigation of Gulf Hypoxia, and have formulated a governing hypothesis that record flooding has caused peak nutrient loadings which will, in turn, cause the largest Gulf Hypoxia ever. Their research will test this hypothesis. Gulf of Mexico hypoxia is prototypical of widespread coastal eutrophication caused by excessive nitrogen and phosphorus export from landscapes and river basins in many regions of the U.S. The research will have wide applicability across the U.S. in helping to understand the role of flood events on nutrient drivers and possibly to suggest more effective policies and management strategies during peak flood events.