LTREB: Linking Long-term Alterations in Atmospheric Chemistry to Changes in Nutrient Dynamics and Sustainable Productivity in central Appalachian Forests

LTREB：将大气化学的长期变化与阿巴拉契亚中部森林的养分动态和可持续生产力的变化联系起来

• 批准号: 1019522
• 负责人: William Peterjohn
• 金额: $ 45万
• 依托单位: West Virginia University Research Corporation
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-08-15 至 2016-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1019522&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: LTREB; Linking; Long; term; Alterations

Long-term research at the Fernow Experimental Forest in West Virginia suggests that continued acid deposition from the burning of fossil fuels may acidify soils and stream water, diminish the abundance of important soil nutrients, reduce tree species diversity, and alter the balance of soil nutrients in ways that reduce the ability of forests to grow and sequester atmospheric carbon dioxide. Previous results also demonstrate that not all forests are equally susceptible to the effects of acid rain. Over the next 10 years, researchers will use ecosystem models and continue long-term measurements of precipitation, stream water, soils, and vegetation in both untreated and experimentally manipulated sites in order to determine: (1) how the mix of tree species alters a forests' susceptibility to the effects of acid rain; (2) whether continued acidification (and nitrogen addition) reduces forest growth and carbon storage; and (3) whether continued acidification will reduce the diversity of forest herbs and trees.Long-term data are rare but necessary for detecting environmental change, and for quantifying its ecological impact. This project will significantly improve our understanding of the link between changes in air pollution and forest productivity in ways that can inform public policy, enhance ecological theory, and improve forest management practices. The investigator will continue a successful fellowship and intern program that provides summer support for graduate and undergraduate students whose research is conducted at the Experimental Forest. He plans to collaborate with the WVU English Department to create a new undergraduate course that challenges students to write creatively about changes in the environment that take place on time scales of decades to centuries. Long-term chemical and hydrological data are publicly available.

在西弗吉尼亚州的弗诺实验森林进行的长期研究表明，燃烧化石燃料所产生的持续的酸沉积可能会使土壤和水流酸化，减少重要土壤养分的丰富程度，减少树种多样性，并以降低森林生长和吸收大气二氧化碳的能力的方式改变土壤养分的平衡。以前的结果还表明，并非所有的森林都同样容易受到酸雨的影响。在接下来的10年里，研究人员将使用生态系统模型，并在未经处理和实验处理的地点继续对降水、水流、土壤和植被进行长期测量，以确定：(1)树种的混合如何改变森林对酸雨影响的易感性；(2)持续酸化（和氮添加）是否会降低森林生长和碳储量；(3)持续酸化是否会减少森林草本植物和树木的多样性。长期数据很少，但对于检测环境变化和量化其生态影响是必要的。该项目将大大提高我们对空气污染变化与森林生产力之间联系的认识，为公共政策提供信息，加强生态理论，改进森林管理实践。研究者将继续成功的奖学金和实习项目，为在实验森林进行研究的研究生和本科生提供夏季支持。他计划与西弗吉尼亚大学英语系合作，开设一门新的本科课程，挑战学生创造性地写几十年到几百年时间尺度上发生的环境变化。长期的化学和水文数据是公开的。