The Role of Resource Legacy on Contemporary Linkages Between Biodiversity and Ecosystem Processes in a Cold Desert Ecosystem: The McMurdo Dry Valley LTER Program

资源遗产对寒冷沙漠生态系统中生物多样性和生态系统过程之间当代联系的作用：麦克默多干谷 LTER 计划

• 批准号: 1041742
• 负责人: Diane McKnight
• 金额: $ 87.25万
• 依托单位: University of Colorado at Boulder
• 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: 2010-03-31 至 2011-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1041742&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Role; Resource; Legacy; Contemporary; Linkages

The McMurdo Dry Valleys (MCM) LTER project focuses on aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems in a cold desert region of Antarctica. Located on the western coast of McMurdo Sound it forms the largest relatively ice-free area on the continent yet is still subject to extreme environmental conditions: perennially ice-covered lakes, ephemeral streams, extensive areas of exposed soil, limited precipitation, and salt accumulation. All ecosystems are in some way shaped by climate and material transport yet nowhere is this more apparent than at MCM, where life approaches its environmental limits and subtle changes in climate have a major influence on the generation of liquid water. This in turn produces a cascade of processes influencing biological reproduction, productivity, biodiversity, and biogeochemistry. Research has shown that the Dry Valleys ecosystems are very sensitive to small variations in solar radiation and temperature so, while Antarctic ice sheets respond to climate change on the order of thousands of years, the glaciers, streams, and ice-covered lakes here respond almost immediately. The overall objectives of MCM are to understand 1) the influence of physical and biological constraints on the structure and function of Dry Valleys ecosystems and 2) the modifying effects of material transport on these ecosystems. The most recent stage of MCM research investigated the legacy of past climate change still strongly overprinting present ecological conditions. This new stage will explore the role of resource legacy and extant processes on determining contemporary biodiversity and ecosystem processes. Hypotheses will be tested through a combination of on-going monitoring and experimental programs plus new research within a vigorous modeling component designed to integrate and synthesize the data on a landscape scale. The new activities will enable biodiversity issues to be addressed in a more definitive manner, especially the interplay between physical dispersion and habitat suitability, and efforts will continue to focus on the integration of the biological processes in both aquatic and terrestrial components of the study site. Stoichiometric and molecular diversity components will be incorporated into the biogeochemistry research to provide a common currency integrating all ecosystem components through the documentation of landscape scale elemental transformations and genetic variation. The broader impacts include the training of graduate and undergraduate students, public education, and international cooperation. Outreach activities include the Schoolyard LTER program, Teachers Experiencing Antarctica, scientific presentations to dignitaries and other visitors to the field site, and the continued dissemination of results in scientific literature and through the lay media.

McMurdo Dry Valleys（MCM）LTER项目着重于南极洲冷漠沙漠地区的水生和陆地生态系统。它位于麦克穆尔多（McMurdo Sound）的西部海岸，它构成了大陆上最大的相对无冰区域，但仍处于极端的环境条件下：长期覆盖冰覆盖的湖泊，短暂的溪流，裸露土壤的广泛区域，有限的降水量和盐分积累。所有生态系统在某种程度上都是由气候和材料运输塑造的，但在MCM上，没有比这更明显的地方了，在那里生活接近其环境限制，气候的微妙变化对液态水的产生产生了重大影响。反过来，这会产生一系列影响生物复制，生产力，生物多样性和生物地球化学的过程。研究表明，干谷生态系统对太阳辐射和温度的微小变化非常敏感，因此，南极冰盖在数千年的时间内对气候变化做出反应，冰川，溪流和冰覆盖的湖泊几乎立即做出反应。 MCM的总体目标是了解1）物理和生物学限制对干谷生态系统结构和功能的影响，以及2）材料传输对这些生态系统的修改作用。 MCM研究的最新阶段调查了过去的气候变化的遗产，目前的生态状况仍然强烈覆盖。这个新阶段将探讨资源遗产和现有过程在确定当代生物多样性和生态系统过程中的作用。假设将通过正在进行的监测和实验计划以及旨在在景观量表上整合和合成数据的剧烈建模组件中进行测试。新活动将使生物多样性问题能够以更确定的方式解决，尤其是物理分散和栖息地适应性之间的相互作用，并且努力将继续集中在研究地点的水生和陆生组件中的生物过程中的整合。化学计量和分子多样性成分将纳入生物地球化学研究中，以通过景观规模元素元素转化和遗传变异的文献提供共同的货币，以整合所有生态系统成分。更广泛的影响包括培训研究生和本科生，公共教育和国际合作。外展活动包括校园lter计划，经历了南极洲的教师，对贵宾的科学演讲以及其他访问者的访问者以及科学文学和外行媒体的持续传播。