LTREB Renewal: Fourteen years of simulated climate change in an ancient limestone grassland: connecting responses of genotypes, species, and ecosystems

在这个项目中，研究人员试图了解气候变化对草原生态系统的长期影响。他们利用土壤和空气温度变暖以及夏季干旱或降雨增加的多年模拟实验来确定不同植物物种的特征如何预测未来几十年群落和生态系统过程将如何变化。该项目还将气候变化影响的研究扩展到遗传水平；最近的证据表明，一些生态系统可能对气候变化具有抵抗力，因为一些物种能够迅速适应新环境。迄今为止的结果表明，单个物种在小的空间尺度上做出反应，这些变化可能是适应性的。在一个为期十年的项目的未来五年里，研究人员将提供长期数据，揭示植物群落结构对气候变化的明显稳定性背后的细节。温带草原是全球生产力的重要贡献者，它们对全球气候变化的反应对人类未来的福祉至关重要。虽然肥沃的草原显示出对模拟变暖的快速植被变化，但那些土壤不肥沃、生长较慢的物种似乎对快速气候变化更有抵抗力。由于后一种草原占全世界牧场和牧场的绝大多数，它们对气候变化的抵抗力将对未来的粮食和纤维生产产生重大影响。巴克斯顿研究地点已经获得了媒体的广泛关注，并将通过感兴趣的公众的访问继续提高社区对气候变化研究的认识，现在由生态连续性信托基金的合作伙伴关系促进。这项研究每年积累的数据集目前可供其他研究人员在线使用。继续参与和指导来自不同国家的广泛种族和民族代表的本科生和研究生，为教育和促进气候变化科学的国际交流提供了宝贵的机会。

In this project, researchers seek to understand the long-term impacts of climate change on grassland ecosystems. They use multi-decadal simulation experiments of warmed soil and air temperatures and of summer drought or elevated rainfall to identify how well the characteristics of different plant species predict how communities and ecosystem processes will shift in coming decades. This project also extends research on climate change impacts to the genetic level; recent evidence indicates that some ecosystems may be resistant to climate change because some species can adapt rapidly to new environments. Results to date show that individual species respond over small spatial scales and that these changes may be adaptive. Over the next five years of a ten year project, the researchers will provide long-term data that reveal the details that underlie an apparent stability of plant community structure in response to climate change. Temperate grasslands are a key contributor to global productivity and their response to global climate change is of critical importance to the future of human welfare. While fertile grasslands show rapid vegetation shifts in response to simulated warming, those on less fertile soils that contain slower-growing species appear more resistant to rapid climate change. Because the latter grasslands account for a large majority of pasture- and range-lands throughout the world, their recalcitrance to climate shifts will have significant ramifications for the future of food and fiber production. The Buxton research site has garnered considerable media attention and will continue to increase community awareness of climate change research through visits from the interested public, now facilitated by a partnership with the Ecological Continuity Trust. The dataset accumulated annually from this study is currently available online to other researchers. Continued involvement and mentoring of undergraduate and graduate students of broad racial and ethnic representation from different nations provides valuable opportunities for education and advances international communication in climate change science.