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

CBET-0843220 Rabalais这个SGER奖是为了紧急研究，以应对创纪录的中西部洪水，这是贡献了大量的营养物质流入墨西哥湾，加剧缺氧。 研究人员将通过综合他们自己的监测数据和其他研究人员的数据，对沿着洪峰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发展和缓解的关键科学问题，并制定了一个管理假设，即创纪录的洪水造成了营养负荷峰值，这反过来又会导致有史以来最大的海湾缺氧。他们的研究将验证这一假设。 墨西哥湾缺氧是美国许多地区景观和河流流域过量氮和磷出口造成的广泛沿海富营养化的典型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间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.