Collaborative Proposal: Eco-evolutionary dynamics of coastal marsh responses to rising CO2

盐沼保护沿海社区免受洪水袭击，调节水质，并作为维持渔业的苗圃。环境变化会对盐沼生态产生重大影响。这个项目将研究两种环境变化对盐沼生态的协同效应——大气中二氧化碳的增加和海平面的上升。大气CO2增加的影响将通过研究盐沼植物生长模式的进化响应来评估。海平面上升的影响将通过测试沼泽植物生长模式的这种变化是否通过提高沼泽的沉积物表面而导致沼泽稳定，从而维持沼泽生态系统功能来检验。了解这些关系可能有助于有效的海岸管理，并使社会能够更好地预测和管理环境变化的社会经济后果。两所大学的本科生和研究生将直接参与项目实验工作的设计和实施。该项目还将向沿海管理人员和公众提供工作结果。这个研究项目将评估一种重要的盐沼植物——美洲Schoenoplectus americanus——的基因变化在100多年的沼泽持久性中所起的作用。跨越上个世纪的基因型将从埋在沉积物中的休眠种子中提取出来。该项目将通过田间、实验室和课堂实验，确定不同“复活”基因型的植物性状的差异，包括生长速度和组织分配。然后，该项目将把结果纳入沼泽生态系统模型（MEM），以预测过去一个世纪植物性能的变化对盐沼生态系统的稳定性和持久性的影响。这项研究的更广泛的社会影响将包括对进化反应对高度重视的生态系统功能的贡献的罕见评估。由于盐沼的社会效益可能因年代际和百年尺度的环境变化而增强或减弱，因此确定生物特征的进化在多大程度上可以增强或抑制生态系统持久性的可能性是很重要的。该项目将促进研究人员和管理人员通过PEcAn平台访问沼泽生态系统模型（MEM）。

Salt marshes protect coastal communities from flooding events, regulate water quality, and serve as nursery grounds that maintain fisheries. Environmental changes can have a significant impact on salt marsh ecology. This project will examine the synergistic effects of two environmental changes on salt marsh ecology - increases in atmospheric CO2 and rising sea levels. The impacts of increases in atmospheric CO2 will be assessed by studying evolutionary responses of salt marsh plant growth patterns. The impacts of rising sea level will be examined by testing whether such changes in marsh plant growth patterns result in in marsh stabilization by elevating the sediment surface of the marsh, and in turn maintaining marsh ecosystem function. Understanding these relationships may aid in effective coastal management and enable society to better anticipate and manage socioeconomic consequences of environmental change. Undergraduate and graduate students at two universities will be directly involved in the design and implementation of experimental work in the project. The project also will make findings from the work accessible to coastal managers and the public.This research project will assess the role that genetically-based changes in a key salt marsh plant, Schoenoplectus americanus, has played in marsh persistence over a 100-year period. Genotypes spanning the last century will be retrieved from dormant seeds buried in sediments. The project will determine differences in plant traits, including growth rates and tissue allocation, across cohorts of "resurrected" genotypes using field, laboratory, and classroom-based experiments. The project will then incorporate results into the Marsh Ecosystem Model (MEM), to project the impact of changes in plant performance over the last century on the stability and persistence of salt marsh ecosystems. Broader societal impacts from this study will include a rare assessment of the contribution that evolutionary responses make to the function of a highly valued ecosystem. Because the societal benefits of salt marshes can be strengthened or weakened by environmental changes on decadal and centennial scales, it is important to determine the extent to which evolution of biological traits can amplify or dampen the likelihood of ecosystem persistence. The project will facilitate access to the Marsh Ecosystem Model (MEM) to researchers and managers via the PEcAn platform.