Collaborative Research: RAPID: lake ecosystem responses to fire along gradients of burn characteristics and hydrologic connectivity

合作研究：RAPID：湖泊生态系统对火灾沿燃烧特征和水文连通性梯度的响应

• 批准号: 2212082
• 负责人: Kendra Cheruvelil
• 金额: $ 6.78万
• 依托单位: Michigan State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-03-01 至 2024-02-29
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2212082&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; RAPID; lake; ecosystem

High-quality water is needed for sustaining all life on Earth. Different types of pollution, however, can reduce water quality and harm the plants, animals, and people that depend on water to live. Specifically, recent wildfires across the U.S. may reduce water quality in several ways. For example, ash from wildfires can end up in lakes and rivers, potentially harming aquatic organisms and drinking water supplies. In this project, a group of researchers will study water quality of northern Minnesota lakes after the 2021 Greenwood Fire. This wildfire burned a large part of Superior National Forest in fall 2021, including areas near 28 lakes. The researchers expect that after spring snowmelt or rain, ash and large pieces of burned plants will wash into these lakes and reduce water quality. They will visit lakes five times from spring to late summer of 2022 to document any water quality changes following the Greenwood Fire. Results of this study will help water managers in Minnesota and elsewhere predict how water quality in lakes and reservoirs may change after future wildfires. This project will also help people who live near lakes understand how the water activities they care about, such as fishing and boating, may be affected by future wildfires.Although wildfire activity is increasing across the U.S. and concern is mounting over fire effects on water resources, few studies have documented fire effects on lake ecosystems. At 10844 ha in size, the 2021 Greenwood Fire in Superior National Forest was the largest lightning-caused Minnesota wildfire in 10 years and covered all or parts of 28 lake watersheds through October 2021. This project assembled an integrative group of aquatic ecosystem, landscape, and fire ecologists to study the physical, chemical, and biological responses of northern Minnesota lakes to the Greenwood Fire. The researchers hypothesized that (1) lake responses will vary proportionally to the percent watershed burned and between drainage vs. isolated lakes and (2) post-fire temporal trajectories will vary according to major hydrologic events (e.g., snowmelt, precipitation). Both hypotheses are being tested using Bayesian approaches (i.e., information theoretic modeling and model choice procedures). Approximately 15 lakes are being sampled each in (1) burned and (2) unburned control watersheds beginning after spring snowmelt, a critical time for the delivery of nutrients and materials from the burned landscape to lakes, and throughout summer 2022.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.

维持地球上所有生命都需要高质量的水。然而，不同类型的污染会降低水质并损害依赖水生存的植物、动物和人类。具体来说，最近美国各地发生的野火可能会以多种方式降低水质。例如，野火产生的灰烬最终可能流入湖泊和河流，可能损害水生生物和饮用水供应。在该项目中，一组研究人员将研究 2021 年格林伍德火灾后明尼苏达州北部湖泊的水质。 2021 年秋季的这场野火烧毁了苏必利尔国家森林的大部分地区，包括 28 个湖泊附近的地区。研究人员预计，春季融雪或下雨后，灰烬和大片烧毁的植物将被冲入这些湖泊并降低水质。他们将从 2022 年春季到夏末五次访问湖泊，记录格林伍德火灾后水质的变化。这项研究的结果将帮助明尼苏达州和其他地方的水管理人员预测未来野火后湖泊和水库的水质可能如何变化。该项目还将帮助居住在湖泊附近的人们了解他们关心的水上活动（例如钓鱼和划船）可能会受到未来野火的影响。尽管美国各地野火活动不断增加，人们越来越担心火灾对水资源的影响，但很少有研究记录火灾对湖泊生态系统的影响。 2021 年苏必利尔国家森林的格林伍德火灾面积达 10844 公顷，是明尼苏达州 10 年来最大的由闪电引起的野火，截至 2021 年 10 月，覆盖了 28 个湖泊流域的全部或部分。该项目聚集了一个由水生生态系统、景观和火灾生态学家组成的综合小组，研究明尼苏达州北部湖泊对格林伍德火灾的物理、化学和生物反应。研究人员假设（1）湖泊反应将与流域燃烧的百分比以及排水系统与孤立湖泊之间成比例地变化；（2）火灾后时间轨迹将根据主要水文事件（例如融雪、降水）而变化。这两种假设都正在使用贝叶斯方法（即信息论建模和模型选择程序）进行测试。从春季融雪之后开始，即从烧毁的景观向湖泊输送养分和物质的关键时刻，以及整个 2022 年夏季，大约 15 个湖泊正在（1）燃烧和（2）未燃烧的控制流域中进行采样。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。