Understanding estuarine carbon cycling within the context of climatic and anthropogenic change

在气候和人为变化的背景下了解河口碳循环

• 批准号: 1119704
• 负责人: Hans Paerl
• 金额: $ 44.95万
• 依托单位: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2011
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2011-09-01 至 2016-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1119704&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Understanding; estuarine; carbon; cycling; within

Estuaries are among the most productive ecosystems on Earth, but are affected negatively by a wide array of interacting human and climatic stressors, including nutrient over-enrichment, climate warming, and changes in the amount of freshwater input. The investigators seek to understand the cumulative effect of these stressors through additions to and synthesis of a long-term water-quality database for the Neuse River Estuary (NRE) in North Carolina, a representative coastal-plain estuary with a growing human population in its watershed. The NRE is experiencing increases in nutrient loading, frequency of tropical cyclones, and climatic extremes. Nutrient and carbon-cycle measurements, including CO2 exchange and microalgal (phytoplankton) production, will be collected and studied for trends and patterns of variability that link to specific stressors. It is hypothesized that regional climate patterns modulate the impacts of management efforts, thus masking potential recovery in the NRE.Shared project data and results will help researchers, managers, and decision makers to better predict and adaptively manage water quality of estuarine ecosystems under the influence of human and climatic changes. The project will provide diverse educational and employment opportunities for post-doctoral researchers and students at the graduate, undergraduate (including those enrolled in a companion NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates program), and high-school levels. Web-based summaries and classroom exercises will enhance K-12 science curricula and inform the public on local estuarine water-quality issues.

河口是地球上最具生产力的生态系统之一，但受到一系列相互作用的人类和气候压力因素的负面影响，包括营养物质过度富集、气候变暖和淡水输入量的变化。研究人员试图通过添加和合成北卡罗来纳州纽斯河河口（NRE）的长期水质数据库来了解这些压力源的累积效应，纽斯河河口是一个代表性的沿海平原河口，其流域人口不断增长。东北地区正在经历营养负荷增加、热带气旋频率增加和极端气候。将收集和研究营养物和碳循环的测量数据，包括二氧化碳交换和微藻（浮游植物）的产生，以了解与特定压力源有关的变化趋势和模式。假设区域气候模式调节了管理工作的影响，从而掩盖了NRE的潜在恢复。共享项目数据和结果将有助于研究人员、管理者和决策者更好地预测和管理受人类和气候变化影响的河口生态系统的水质。该项目将为博士后研究人员和研究生、本科生（包括那些参加NSF本科生研究经历项目的学生）和高中水平的学生提供多样化的教育和就业机会。网上摘要和课堂练习将加强K-12科学课程，并使公众了解当地河口水质问题。