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

西弗吉尼亚州费诺实验森林的长期研究表明，燃烧化石燃料导致的持续酸沉降可能会使土壤和溪水酸化，减少重要土壤养分的丰度，减少树木物种多样性，并改变土壤养分的平衡，从而降低森林生长和隔离大气二氧化碳的能力。以前的研究结果还表明，并非所有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，继续对未经处理和经过实验操作的地点的降水、溪水、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敏感性；(2)持续的酸化(和氮素添加)是否会减少森林的生长和碳储存；(3)持续的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。这个项目将显著提高我们对空气污染变化和森林生产力之间联系的理解，从而为公共政策提供信息，增强生态理论，并改进森林管理实践。研究人员将继续一项成功的奖学金和实习生计划，为在实验森林进行研究的研究生和本科生提供暑期支持。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，挑战学生创造性地撰写关于环境变化的文章，这些变化发生在数十年到数百年的时间尺度上。长期的化学和水文数据是公开的。

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.