LTER: Georgia Coastal Ecosystems-III

LTER：乔治亚州沿海生态系统-III

• 批准号: 1237140
• 负责人: Merryl Alber
• 金额: $ 539.4万
• 依托单位: University of Georgia Research Foundation Inc
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-12-01 至 2019-11-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1237140&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: LTER; Georgia; Coastal; Ecosystems; III

Intellectual Merit The Georgia Coastal Ecosystems (GCE) LTER is located along three adjacent sounds on the Atlantic coast and includes both intertidal marshes and estuaries. Long-term drivers of climate change, sea level rise and human alterations of the landscape will cause transitions in dominant habitat types (state changes) within the GCE domain by changing the amounts and patterns of water delivery across the landscape. These changes in water delivery can be conceptualized as presses and pulses in river inflow, local runoff, groundwater input, and tidal inundation, which will in turn manifest themselves as changes in salinity and inundation patterns in the domain. The research at GCE-III is designed to address how variations in salinity and inundation, driven by climate change and anthropogenic factors, affect biotic and ecosystem responses at different spatial and temporal scales, and to predict the consequences of these changes for habitat provisioning and carbon (C) sequestration across the coastal landscape. The goals for this next funding cycle are to: 1) Track long-term changes in climate and human actions in the watershed and adjacent uplands, and evaluate the effects of these drivers on domain boundary conditions (riverine input, runoff and infiltration from adjacent uplands, sea surface height). This will be accomplished through long-term measurements of climate, water chemistry, oceanic exchange, and human activities on the landscape. 2) Describe temporal and spatial variability in physical (e.g. stratification, estuarine salt intrusion, residence time), chemical (e.g. salinity, nutrients, organic matter liability), geological (e.g. accretion) and biological (e.g. organism abundance and productivity) properties in the domain, and to evaluate how they are affected by variations in river inflow and other boundary conditions. LTER researchers will accomplish this by tracking both water and marsh conditions at our core monitoring sites, remote sensing, and hydrodynamic modeling. 3) Characterize the responses of three dominant habitats in the domain (Spartina marsh, fresh/brackish marsh, high marsh) to pulses and presses in salinity and inundation. Investigators will accomplish this through monitoring, large-scale field manipulations, and modeling designed to evaluate system responses to changes in inundation in the Spartina marsh, increased salinity in the fresh/brackish marsh, and changes in hydrologic connectivity in the high marsh. LTER personnel are particularly interested in determining thresholds that cause habitat transitions (state changes), and in identifying signals of these changes. 4) Describe patterns of habitat provisioning and C sequestration and export in the GCE domain, and to evaluate how these might be affected by changes in salinity and inundation. This will be accomplished by using modeling and field observations to evaluate habitat provision and C flow under different scenarios of sea level rise, freshwater inflow, and coastal development that describe both the pre-colonial past conditions of the system and its likely future over the next 100 years. These efforts will be synthesized into a synoptic understanding of both biotic and ecosystem responses to variations in salinity and inundation driven by climate change and human activities, which will be used to assess thresholds between habitats and the potential for state changes in the domain.Broader Impacts The goal of GCE outreach is to enhance scientific understanding of coastal ecosystems by teachers and students, coastal managers, and the general public. The GCE Schoolyard program, run in partnership with the UGA Marine Extension Service, is built around long-term contact and mentoring of educators. The Schoolyard program is developing activities and distribution plans for the forthcoming GCE children's book, As the Tide Comes In. A partnership with the GCE Peach LSAMP program will provide research opportunities for minority undergraduates, and a cross-site interdisciplinary course will provide interdisciplinary training for graduate students. GCE postdoctoral opportunities will advance the early careers of several scientists. The LTER partners with the Georgia Coastal Research Council to promote science-based management of coastal resources. GCE scientists routinely participate in a variety of public outreach forums. GCE information is also broadly accessed via our website, which uses a state-of-the art information system to manage and display information about study sites, research, taxonomy, data sets, publications, and project administration.

格鲁吉亚沿海生态系统（GCE）LTER位于沿着三个相邻的声音在大西洋海岸，包括潮间带沼泽和河口。气候变化、海平面上升和人类活动改变地貌的长期驱动因素将通过改变整个地貌的水量和供水模式，导致全球气候变化领域内主要生境类型的转变（状态变化）。这些水输送的变化可以被概念化为河流入流、局部径流、地下水输入和潮汐淹没的压力和脉冲，这反过来又会表现为该域盐度和淹没模式的变化。GCE-III的研究旨在解决由气候变化和人为因素驱动的盐度和洪水的变化如何影响不同时空尺度上的生物和生态系统反应，并预测这些变化对沿海景观中栖息地供应和碳（C）固存的影响。下一个供资周期的目标是：1）跟踪流域和邻近高地的气候和人类活动的长期变化，并评估这些驱动因素对域边界条件（河流输入，邻近高地的径流和渗透，海面高度）的影响。这将通过长期测量气候、水化学、海洋交换和人类活动对景观的影响来实现。2)描述该区域的物理（例如分层、河口盐侵入、停留时间）、化学（例如盐度、营养物、有机物易变性）、地质（例如加积）和生物（例如有机体丰度和生产力）特性的时空变化，并评估它们如何受到河流流入量和其他边界条件变化的影响。LTER研究人员将通过跟踪我们核心监测点的水和沼泽状况、遥感和水动力学建模来实现这一目标。3)表征三个占主导地位的栖息地在域（米草沼泽，新鲜/半咸水沼泽，高沼泽）的脉冲和压力的盐度和淹没的反应。调查人员将通过监测，大规模的现场操作和建模来实现这一目标，旨在评估系统对米草沼泽淹没变化的响应，增加新鲜/半咸水沼泽的盐度，以及高沼泽水文连通性的变化。LTER人员特别感兴趣的是确定导致生境转变（状态变化）的阈值，并确定这些变化的信号。4)描述模式的栖息地供应和碳封存和出口在GCE域，并评估这些可能会受到影响的变化，盐度和洪水。这将是通过使用建模和实地观察，以评估不同的情况下，海平面上升，淡水流入和沿海发展，描述了殖民地前的过去条件的系统和它可能的未来在未来100年的栖息地供应和C流。这些努力将被综合成一个对生物和生态系统对气候变化和人类活动驱动的盐度和洪水变化的反应的概括性理解，这将被用来评估栖息地之间的阈值和该领域状态变化的可能性。和公众。GCE校园计划，与UGA海洋推广服务合作运行，是围绕教育工作者的长期联系和指导而建立的。校园计划正在为即将出版的GCE儿童读物《潮水涌来》制定活动和发行计划。与GCE Peach LSAMP计划的合作伙伴关系将为少数民族本科生提供研究机会，跨学科课程将为研究生提供跨学科培训。GCE博士后机会将促进几位科学家的早期职业生涯。LTER与格鲁吉亚海岸研究理事会合作，促进以科学为基础的沿海资源管理。全球环境教育委员会的科学家定期参加各种公共外联论坛。GCE信息也可以通过我们的网站广泛访问，该网站使用最先进的信息系统来管理和显示有关研究地点，研究，分类，数据集，出版物和项目管理的信息。