BRC-BIO: Carbon sequestration potential and drought resilience with wet meadow restoration under a changing climate

自工业革命以来，全球气温已上升超过 1 摄氏度，到 2041 年将达到 2 摄氏度。这种情况将对社会和生态系统造成毁灭性影响。美国西部地区受到的打击尤其严重。该地区正在经历大范围变暖、降水减少和积雪减少，导致干旱更加频繁和严重。土地恢复实践可以通过影响土壤有效储水的能力来影响生态系统对干旱条件的恢复能力。此外，恢复有可能通过增加植物生长和腐烂来增加土壤碳。然而，在大空间尺度上，人们对恢复工作如何影响土壤中储存的土壤水量和碳量知之甚少。此外，土地恢复项目可能会影响土壤有效储水的能力。通过采取综合方法，本研究将研究从景观尺度上土地恢复项目和土壤条件变化可以学到什么。它将为使用遥感工具数据来量化生态系统变化提供新的见解。这项工作还将为本科生提供身临其境的研究和教育体验。这些经历包括参加夏季实地课程，学生将有机会与各种非学术合作伙伴建立联系。恢复项目覆盖大片景观，使得地面测量不足以准确量化广泛空间尺度的碳储存和恢复力。该项目将评估使用遥感工具量化整个景观土壤湿度变化的有效性。这项工作将评估恢复科罗拉多州甘尼森盆地内潮湿草甸的碳封存潜力。将使用 Sentinel-1 卫星和无人机 Black Swift S2 的委托飞行来收集恢复的流域内的遥感土壤湿度数据，并将使用现场土壤湿度数据进行验证，以检查反演的准确性。将通过测量恢复和未恢复流域的土壤碳储量来评估碳固存潜力。到目前为止，这些不同来源的数据尚未结合起来量化生态背景下的土壤湿度。这项研究将是第一个这样做的研究。因此，这项研究不仅为解决重要的土地管理问题提供了机会，还将探索创新的方法。这项研究的结果将有助于评估恢复工作的影响及其作为甘尼森盆地及其他地区气候缓解工具的潜力，因为类似的湿草甸恢复项目正在美国西部近乎受威胁的鼠尾草（Centrocercus urophasianus）占据的地区进行。帮助恢复科罗拉多河源头地区水文的恢复实践有可能影响依赖科罗拉多河供水的数百万人。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。

Global air temperature has increased by over one degree Celsius since the industrial revolution and is on its way to reaching two degrees Celsius by 2041. This scenario will cause devasting impacts on both social and ecological systems. Particularly hit hard is the western United States. That region is experiencing widespread warming, decrease in precipitation, and decline in snowpack resulting in more frequent and severe droughts. Land restoration practices can impact ecosystem resilience to drought conditions by affecting the ability for soils to effectively store water. In addition, restoration has the potential to increase soil carbon through increased plant growth and decay. However, how restoration efforts influence the amount of soil water and carbon stored in soils is poorly understood over large spatial scales. In addition, land restoration projects may affect the ability for soils to effectively store water. By taking an integrative approach, this research will study what can be learned about land restoration projects and changes in soil conditions at a landscape scale. It will provide new insights into the use of data from remote sensing tools to quantify ecosystems changes. The work will also provide immersive research and education experiences for undergraduate students. These experiences included participation in a summer field course where students will have opportunities to connect with a variety of non-academic partners. Restoration projects cover large landscapes, making on the ground measurements inadequate in accurately quantifying carbon storage and resilience at broad spatial scales. This project will assess the effectiveness of using remote sensing tools to quantify changes in soil moisture across landscapes. The work will evaluate the carbon sequestration potential of restoring wet meadows within the Gunnison Basin of Colorado. Remote sensing soil moisture data will be collected within restored watersheds using Sentinel-1 satellites and commissioned flights with the UAV, Black Swift S2 and will be validated with in situ soil moisture data to check retrieval accuracies. Carbon sequestration potential will be evaluated by measuring soil carbon stocks in restored and unrestored watersheds. Until now, data from these different sources have not been combined to quantify soil moisture in an ecological context. This study will be the first to do so. So, not only does this research provide an opportunity to address important land management questions, it will also explore an innovative methodology. Results from this study will help assess the impact of restoration efforts and their potential to serve as a climate mitigation tool within the Gunnison Basin and beyond as similar wet meadow restoration projects are occurring across the western United States in regions where the near threatened greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) occupy. Restoration practices that help restore hydrology within this region, the headwaters of the Colorado River, have the potential to impact the millions of people reliant on the Colorado River water supply.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.