Collaborative Research: The interplay of nitrogen loading and ecosystem sustainability in threatened wetlands: an extension of the WETFEET project

合作研究：受威胁湿地氮负荷与生态系统可持续性的相互作用：WEFTEET 项目的延伸

• 批准号: 2225000
• 负责人: Lisa Chambers
• 金额: $ 37.49万
• 依托单位: The University of Central Florida Board of Trustees
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-01-01 至 2025-12-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2225000&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; interplay; nitrogen; loading

Over the last decade, pollution in Florida estuaries has had dire consequences such as red tides and massive die-offs of fish and marine mammals. This team of researchers has worked closely with land managers in northeastern Florida who seek data-driven guidance on strategies to mitigate pollution and help sustain these wetlands. Critical wetland habitats are increasingly being lost to erosion at the edges, and "ponding" in the interior due to sea level rise. As sea levels and pollution are increasing, the thin green strips of vegetation that protect Florida’s human population from big storms are changing from salt marsh grasses to mangrove forests. To determine how these wetlands will fare in a future with higher seas, more nutrient inputs, and larger plants, this project will use a combination of field experiments, mapping, and mathematical modeling. Information will be obtained on how coastal wetlands can help remove nitrogen, a common pollutant in coastal waters. The researchers will investigate whether wetland decline is contributing to the current uptick in nutrient levels that threatens the health of humans and other animals. Finally, the team will use the relationships that they have built with northeastern Florida land managers, government officials and restoration practitioners to help plan for the future of these threatened wetlands in the Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve (GTMNERR) and beyond. Data from this project will be used to map nutrient hotspots in the GTMNERR, and to train undergraduate and graduate student researchers in the study of coastal wetlands and plan for their restoration. In northeastern Florida, coastal wetland ecosystems are faced with rising seas and pollution loads, and are undergoing dramatic climate-driven vegetation conversion from marsh plants to mangroves. Nitrogen (N) eutrophication and rising sea levels each individually can severely impact coastal wetlands. This project will explore how these two problems may be linked by coastal wetland feedbacks, which underlie the project's three central hypotheses: (1) Excess N loading may interrupt the mechanisms of soil accumulation that sustain wetlands; (2) Conversion of marsh to mangrove greatly enhances N demand which may mitigate N pollution of adjacent waterways; (3) N-eutrophication can accelerate transformation of marsh to mangrove by satisfying the greater N demand of mangroves compared to marsh plants. Past studies have shown that N addition can hinder the ability of wetlands to keep up with sea level rise by stimulating loss of organic matter, whereas others have shown that N addition may promote plant growth, which can help sustain coastal wetlands. The discrepancy may result from stark differences in biogeomorphic processes between wetland edges and interiors. This project will address this discrepancy directly by leveraging established infrastructure to conduct experimental N addition at both creekside and interior locations, in addition to comparing N effects on marshes and adjacent mangrove-dominated plots for the first time. New hypotheses will be tested about how N may alter mechanisms of elevation gain and mangrove encroachment across the landscape as well as hypotheses about how ongoing loss of wetlands and conversion of marshes to mangroves could have dramatic effects on coastal N budgets. Examining N influences on wetland resilience to sea level rise was identified as a research priority by the GTMNERR management at a recent coastal vulnerability workshop (September 2021). This team of researchers will work with the GTMNERR water quality data and our own data collection from this project to build a new nutrient layer onto a coastal vulnerability map that will help prioritize GTMNERR sites for planned conservation and restoration initiatives. Research findings will be conveyed to the public by working with the environmental education center at the GTMNERR to produce an exhibit and curricula for visitors and camps. Interdisciplinary training of young scientists will also take place at three institutions- Villanova University, University of Central Florida and Roosevelt University.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.

在过去的十年里，佛罗里达河口的污染已经造成了可怕的后果，比如赤潮和鱼类和海洋哺乳动物的大量死亡。这组研究人员与佛罗里达州东北部的土地管理者密切合作，他们寻求数据驱动的策略指导，以减轻污染并帮助维持这些湿地。由于边缘的侵蚀和海平面上升导致的内陆“积水”，重要的湿地栖息地正日益丧失。随着海平面上升和污染加剧，保护佛罗里达人口免受大风暴影响的薄薄的绿色植被带正在从盐沼草变成红树林。为了确定这些湿地在更高的海平面、更多的养分输入和更大的植物的未来将如何发展，该项目将采用实地实验、制图和数学建模相结合的方法。有关海岸湿地如何帮助去除海岸水域常见的污染物氮的资料将会获得。研究人员将调查湿地的减少是否导致了目前威胁人类和其他动物健康的营养水平上升。最后，该小组将利用他们与佛罗里达州东北部土地管理者、政府官员和恢复从业者建立的关系，帮助规划瓜纳托洛马托马坦萨斯国家河口研究保护区（GTMNERR）及其他地区这些受威胁湿地的未来。该项目的数据将用于绘制GTMNERR的营养热点，并培养滨海湿地研究和恢复规划的本科生和研究生研究员。在佛罗里达州东北部，沿海湿地生态系统面临着海平面上升和污染负荷，并且正在经历由气候驱动的从沼泽植物到红树林的戏剧性植被转变。氮(N)富营养化和海平面上升各自都会严重影响沿海湿地。本项目将探讨这两个问题如何与沿海湿地反馈联系起来，这是该项目的三个中心假设的基础：(1)过量的氮负荷可能会中断维持湿地的土壤积累机制；(2)沼泽向红树林的转变大大增加了对氮的需求，可能减轻邻近水道的氮污染；(3)氮富营养化通过满足红树林比沼泽植物更大的氮需求，加速沼泽向红树林的转变。过去的研究表明，添加N可以通过刺激有机质的损失来阻碍湿地跟上海平面上升的能力，而其他研究表明，添加N可以促进植物生长，这可以帮助维持沿海湿地。这种差异可能是由于湿地边缘和内部生物地貌过程的明显差异造成的。该项目将直接解决这一差异，利用已建立的基础设施，在河滨和内陆地区进行试验N添加，并首次比较N对沼泽和邻近红树林为主的地块的影响。新的假设将被测试关于N如何改变海拔增加和红树林入侵的机制，以及关于湿地的持续损失和沼泽向红树林的转化如何对沿海N预算产生巨大影响的假设。在最近的沿海脆弱性研讨会（2021年9月）上，GTMNERR管理层将研究N对湿地对海平面上升恢复力的影响确定为研究重点。这组研究人员将利用GTMNERR的水质数据和我们自己从这个项目中收集的数据，在沿海脆弱性地图上建立一个新的营养层，这将有助于优先考虑GTMNERR地点的计划保护和恢复举措。研究结果将通过与GTMNERR的环境教育中心合作向公众传达，为游客和营地制作展览和课程。青年科学家的跨学科培训也将在维拉诺瓦大学、中佛罗里达大学和罗斯福大学这三个机构进行。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。