SitS NSF-UKRI: Collaborative Research: Sensors UNder snow Seasonal Processes in the evolution of ARctic Soils (SUN SPEARS)

SitS NSF-UKRI：合作研究：雪下传感器北极土壤演变的季节性过程（SUN SPEARS）

• 批准号: 1935689
• 负责人: Steven Schmidt
• 金额: $ 37.72万
• 依托单位: University of Colorado at Boulder
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-01-01 至 2024-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1935689&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SitS; NSF; UKRI; Collaborative; Research

This project was awarded through the "Signals in the Soil (SitS)" opportunity, a collaborative solicitation that involves the United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA NIFA) and the following United Kingdom Research and Innovation (UKRI) research councils: 1) The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), 2) the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), 3) the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), and the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC).Melting ice sheets and glaciers are exposing vast landscapes dominated by seemingly barren post-glaciation soils. These new habitats support specialized and resilient microorganisms and, after many years, even lichens and plants. However, access to and measurements of these remote sites are typically restricted to the summer and, thus, seasonal effects including prolonged cold, dark winters are under-studied. This collaborative effort between U.S. (University of Utah; University of Colorado, Boulder) and U.K. (Queen Mary University of London; British Geological Survey) researchers will measure biological, hydrologic, and chemical activity under the winter and spring snowpack in soils near a retreating glacier in Svalbard, Norway, via continuously operated sensors and repeated field measurements. This will enable scientists to understand how under-snow processes contribute to the functioning and development of these unique soil ecosystems now and into the future. Additionally, project researchers will bring interactive lessons to classrooms in underserved areas in rural Colorado and Utah, remotely reach classrooms and podcast audiences around the world, provide research training for high school students from rural Colorado, and training for two university students and three postdoctoral researchers.The spatial extent of Arctic soils is rapidly expanding due to glacier retreat. These soils are of ever-increasing importance as a climate mediator and provider of ecosystem services and are also experiencing the effects of the polar amplification of climate change. Despite previous efforts to trace the development of soils following glacier retreat, it remains unknown to what extent seasonal processes affect their evolution on annual to multi-decadal timescales. Due to the inaccessibility of most Arctic regions outside of a brief summer period, the seasonal dynamics of pioneer Arctic soil systems are largely unexplored. To resolve these challenges, the project's goal is to achieve continuous year-round monitoring of dynamic processes across an age gradient of Arctic soils using a network of buried geophysical sensors in a High-Arctic glacier forefield. This effort will be coupled with repeated field monitoring of soil biogeochemical processes via state-of-the-art molecular techniques, and development of a microbially-explicit biological-geophysical model to describe soil evolution. Using a space-for-time chronosequence approach that for the first time captures intra-annual (i.e. seasonal) variability, this project aims to improve understanding of how seasonal processes contribute to long-term development of Arctic soils. This cross-disciplinary collaboration among researchers with expertise in geophysics, engineering, microbial ecology, biogeochemistry, and Earth system modelling, will permit mechanistic inference and projections, and transform the capacity to conduct year-round research in remote and complex environments. Data and model code will be shared via web-based archives, enabling a new generation of soil models. Findings will be disseminated to the scientific community through publications and conferences, and communicated more broadly through public engagement.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

该项目是通过“土壤信号（SitS）”机会授予的，这是一项合作招标，涉及美国农业部国家食品和农业研究所（USDA NIFA）和以下英国研究与创新（UKRI）研究委员会：1）自然环境研究委员会（NERC），2）生物技术和生物科学研究委员会（BBSRC），3）工程和 物理科学研究委员会 (EPSRC) 和科学技术设施委员会 (STFC)。融化的冰盖和冰川使大片地貌暴露出来，这些地貌以看似贫瘠的冰川后土壤为主。这些新的栖息地支持专门且有弹性的微生物，多年后甚至支持地衣和植物。然而，对这些偏远地点的访问和测量通常仅限于夏季，因此，包括漫长寒冷、黑暗的冬季在内的季节性影响尚未得到充分研究。美国（犹他大学、科罗拉多大学博尔德分校）和英国（伦敦玛丽女王大学、英国地质调查局）研究人员的合作将通过连续运行的传感器和重复的现场测量，测量挪威斯瓦尔巴群岛消退冰川附近土壤中冬季和春季积雪下的生物、水文和化学活动。这将使科学家能够了解雪下过程如何促进这些独特土壤生态系统现在和未来的功能和发展。此外，项目研究人员还将为科罗拉多州和犹他州服务欠缺地区的教室带来互动课程，远程接触世界各地的教室和播客观众，为科罗拉多州农村的高中生提供研究培训，并为两名大学生和三名博士后研究人员提供培训。由于冰川退缩，北极土壤的空间范围正在迅速扩大。这些土壤作为气候调节者和生态系统服务的提供者越来越重要，并且也正在经历气候变化极地放大的影响。尽管之前曾努力追踪冰川退缩后土壤的发展，但仍不清楚季节性过程在多大程度上影响了土壤在每年到数十年时间尺度上的演变。由于大多数北极地区在短暂的夏季之外都难以进入，因此先锋北极土壤系统的季节性动态在很大程度上尚未得到探索。为了解决这些挑战，该项目的目标是利用高北极冰川前场的埋藏地球物理传感器网络，实现对北极土壤年龄梯度动态过程的全年连续监测。这项工作将与通过最先进的分子技术对土壤生物地球化学过程进行重复现场监测相结合，并开发微生物显式生物地球物理模型来描述土壤演化。该项目采用首次捕获年内（即季节性）变化的时空时序方法，旨在提高对季节性过程如何促进北极土壤长期发展的理解。具有地球物理学、工程学、微生物生态学、生物地球化学和地球系统建模专业知识的研究人员之间的这种跨学科合作，将允许机械推理和预测，并改变在偏远和复杂环境中进行全年研究的能力。数据和模型代码将通过基于网络的档案共享，从而实现新一代土壤模型。研究结果将通过出版物和会议向科学界传播，并通过公众参与进行更广泛的交流。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。