Luquillo CZO: The role of hot spots and hot moments in tropical landscape evolution and functioning of the critical zone

Luquillo CZO：热点和热点时刻在热带景观演化和关键区域功能中的作用

• 批准号: 1331841
• 负责人: William McDowell
• 金额: $ 490万
• 依托单位: University of New Hampshire
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Cooperative Agreement
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2013-12-01 至 2021-11-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1331841&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Luquillo; CZO; role; hot; spots

The structure and function of the critical zone (CZ) plays a central role in sustaining Earth's life support system. During the first phase of the Luquillo Critical Zone Observatory (LCZO1), investigators identified differences in rock type, deep weathering, geomorphology, and topography as the dominant drivers of key CZ processes such as nutrient supply, greenhouse gas emissions, and water quantity and quality. Building on this foundation, LCZO2 will evaluate the role of "hot spots and hot moments" in the CZ: locations or time periods that disproportionately impact the environment as a whole. "Hot spots and hot moments" are particularly relevant to humid tropical environments such as the LCZO, which are characterized by high physical, geochemical, and biological diversity in space and time. Critical zone processes can occur at very small to very large spatial scales. For example, bedrock weathering occurs at a millimeter spatial scale, while wholesale changes in vegetation and carbon cycling occur over several kilometers such as along elevation gradients. Critical zone processes can also vary over time; oxidation-reduction reactions occur in soils on the scale of minutes, and catastrophic events such as hurricanes and landslides occur at decadal time scales. Investigators will identify, quantify, and model the role of "hot spots and hot moments" in a range of CZ processes and use that knowledge to predict the rates of CZ processes across the Luquillo Mountains and in other montane areas with high temperature and rainfall. Specific focal areas include: 1) the importance of knickpoints and landscape position as hot spots for weathering, soil development, and biogeochemical cycling; 2) the role of "hot spots and hot moments" in redox fluctuations and mineral weathering for C and nutrient retention and loss; 3) the role of "hot spots" for sediment production and "hot moments" in stream flow for the transport of sediment, C, and nutrients from mountains to the sea; and 4) the development of climate and hydrologic models to scale up "hot spots and hot moments" in time and space. The data collected and synthesized will transform the understanding of the controls on key CZ processes such as weathering, soil development, C and nutrient storage and loss, soil and sediment transport, and ultimately landscape evolution and the effects of climate change. The project will provide an unprecedented level of detail on "hot spots and hot moments" in a tropical system. The results of this research will allow us to accurately and precisely 'earthcast' the effects of environmental change on important environmental processes such as flooding, erosion, and landslides. Because all critical zones have "hot spots and hot moments" of significant environmental processes, the development of the "hot spots and hot moments" concept in the CZ context will promote cross-site integration, the development of conceptual models of the CZ, and provide a venue for the Earth science community to develop and test novel approaches to CZ science.The LCZO2 will continue to collaborate with University of Puerto Rico (UPR) students and scientists to enhance the participation of underrepresented groups in the Earth and environmental sciences. LCZO2 will also contribute to an existing 'Schoolyard' environmental education program at high schools in Puerto Rico. This program has a successful record of incorporating new data and research techniques into the curriculum and provides professional development for the teachers in addition to research opportunities for students. The diverse group of co-PIs, senior personnel, and collaborators will provide strong role models for research students and postdocs. Our robust collaborations with local and federal agencies and educational institutions provide access to policy makers and other stakeholders that will help us to translate science into policy-relevant findings. Informal forums will be used to share our research findings and to emphasize the significance of CZ research to environmental decision makers dealing with questions such as soil erosion that can fill reservoirs, water quality that degrades water supply and coral reefs, and carbon storage that counteracts the effects of global increases in carbon dioxide. An inclusive and comprehensive engagement plan will encourage participation by scientists not yet affiliated with the LCZO2. The plans for cross-CZO modeling, open sharing of data and samples, and cyberseminars that are open to the public will strengthen the CZO network as a whole and enhance the availability of CZ science to the public and decision-makers.

临界区（CZ）的结构和功能在维持地球生命支持系统中起着核心作用。在Luquillo临界区观测站的第一阶段（LCZO1）中，研究人员确定了岩石类型，深层风化，地貌和地形的差异是关键CZ过程的主要驱动因素，例如营养供应，温室气体排放以及水量和水量和质量。 LCZO2以此为基础，将评估CZ中“热点和热点”的作用：地点或时间段，这些时间段或时间段不成比例地影响整个环境。 “热点和热点”与潮湿的热带环境（例如LCZO）特别相关，LCZO的特征是时空和时间上的物理，地球化学和生物学多样性。关键区域过程可能会在很小至很大的空间尺度下发生。例如，基岩风化发生在毫米空间尺度上，而植被和碳循环的批发变化发生在几公里（例如沿着海拔梯度）上。关键区域过程也会随着时间而变化。氧化还原反应发生在分钟数的尺度上，灾难性事件（如飓风和滑坡）发生在十年时间尺度上。研究人员将在一系列CZ过程中识别，量化和建模“热点和热点”的作用，并利用这些知识来预测整个Luquillo山脉以及其他高温和降雨量和降雨量的Montane地区CZ过程的速率。特定的焦点区域包括：1）纽克点和景观位置作为风化，土壤发育和生物地球化学循环的热点的重要性； 2）“热点和热点”在氧化还原波动和矿物风化中的作用以及养分保留和损失的作用； 3）“热点”在沉积物产生和“热点”中的作用在溪流流中，用于沉积物，C和营养物质从山上到海的运输； 4）开发气候和水文模型，以扩大时间和空间的“热点和热点”。收集和合成的数据将改变对关键CZ过程的控制的理解，例如风化，土壤发育，C和养分储存和损失，土壤和沉积物的运输，最终是景观演化以及气候变化的影响。该项目将在热带系统中提供关于“热点和热点”的前所未有的细节。这项研究的结果将使我们能够准确，准确地“地球”环境变化对诸如洪水，侵蚀和滑坡等重要环境过程的影响。由于所有关键区域都有重要的环境过程的“热点和热点”，因此在CZ环境中的“热点和热点”概念的发展将促进跨站点的整合，CZ的概念模型的发展，并为地球科学社区提供了一个开发和测试CZ Science的新颖方法的场所。地球和环境科学中代表性不足的群体。 LCZO2还将为波多黎各高中的现有“校园”环境教育计划做出贡献。该计划成功地记录了将新数据和研究技术纳入课程的记录，并为教师提供专业发展，除了为学生提供研究机会。 多元化的副派，高级人员和合作者将为研究学生和博士后提供强大的榜样。我们与地方和联邦机构以及教育机构的强大合作提供了与政策制定者和其他利益相关者的访问权，这将帮助我们将科学转化为与政策相关的发现。非正式论坛将用于分享我们的研究结果，并强调CZ研究对诸如可以填充水库填充水库的问题的环境决策制造商的重要性，降低了水供应和珊瑚礁的水质以及抵消碳二氧化碳全球效果的碳存储。 包容性和全面的参与计划将鼓励尚未隶属于LCZO2的科学家参与。 跨CZO建模，数据和样品的开放共享计划以及向公众开放的网络电子将加强整个CZO网络，并增强CZ Science对公众和决策者的可用性。