LTREB: Quantifying the recovery of central Appalachian forests during the final chapter of society's inadvertent nitrogen fertilization experiment.

LTREB：在社会无意的氮施肥实验的最后一章中量化阿巴拉契亚中部森林的恢复。

• 批准号: 2312514
• 负责人: Edward Brzostek
• 金额: $ 59.94万
• 依托单位: West Virginia University Research Corporation
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-09-01 至 2028-08-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2312514&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: LTREB; Quantifying; recovery; central; Appalachian

Since the start of the industrial revolution, the burning of fossil fuels has led to nitrogen pollution of Eastern US forests. This created an inadvertent experiment by society that had two opposing consequences. Forests retained only a fraction of this added nitrogen. The rest washed downstream and reduced water quality. Nitrogen pollution also acted as a fertilizer which enhanced the ability of trees and soils to store carbon and slow climate change. However, it remains unknown whether these consequences will persist as nitrogen pollution declines due to the success of the Clean Air Act. Notably, there is a lack of long-term records that can be used to investigate how Eastern US forests recover from nitrogen pollution during the final chapter of society’s inadvertent experiment. The research addresses whether these consequences will persist, recover, or reach a new normal, through long-term records of forest responses to nitrogen pollution at the Fernow Experimental Forest in West Virginia. The project broadens participation in science by engaging local 8th grade students in rural Tucker County, WV through field trips and in-class activities. This research couples one of the country’s longest stream water datasets with the cessation of one of its longest watershed nitrogen addition experiments at the Fernow Experimental Forest. Reductions in nitrogen are hypothesized to trigger ecosystem recovery, wherein trees will send more carbon below ground to roots and symbiotic fungi for nitrogen acquisition ultimately leading to reductions in ecosystem nitrogen losses and carbon storage. This hypothesis was tested by tracking the recovery of four watersheds experiencing declines in ambient nitrogen pollution as well as in an experimental watershed where nitrogen fertilization ceased in 2020. Across these watersheds, long-term records of stream water nitrogen and forest carbon storage are maintained and enhanced by new measurements of tree and microbial species composition as well as assessments of carbon investment by trees in roots and symbiotic fungi to reveal the mechanisms of ecosystem responses. The research refines and informs processes in an ecosystem model to improve our predictive understanding of forest recovery to declines in nitrogen pollution.This project is jointly funded by Ecosystem Science and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).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.

自工业革命开始以来，化石燃料的燃烧导致了美国东部森林的氮污染。这创造了社会的无意实验，带来了两个相反的后果。森林仅保留了这种添加的氮的一小部分。其余的将下游洗净并降低了水质。氮污染也充当肥料，增强了树木和土壤存储碳和气候变化缓慢的能力。但是，由于《清洁空气法》的成功，这些后果是否会持续下降，这是否会持续下去。值得注意的是，在社会无意实验的最后一章中，缺乏长期记录可用于调查美国东部森林如何从氮污染中恢复过来。该研究通过长期记录西弗吉尼亚州Fernow实验森林对氮污染的森林反应的长期记录，解决了这些后果是否会持续，恢复或达到新的正常情况。该项目通过通过实地考察和课堂活动与Rough Tucker County的地方八年级学生互动，从而扩大了科学的参与。这项研究将该国最长的水水数据集之一融合在一起，并停止了在Fernow实验森林中最长的流域氮添加实验之一。假设氮的减少以触发生态系统的恢复，其中树木将在地下向根和共生真菌发送更多的碳，以最终导致生态系统氮损失和碳存储的减少。通过追踪四个流域的回收，经历了环境氮污染的下降以及在2020年停止的氮肥停止的实验水域中的恢复来检验。在这些流域，通过新的氮和森林碳的储存量，并增强了树木的含量，并增强了树木的繁殖，并增强了树木的长期记录。共生真菌揭示生态系统反应的机制。该研究在生态系统模型中完善并为过程提供了信息，以提高我们对森林恢复的预测理解，以减少氮污染中的下降。本项目由生态系统科学和启发竞争性研究的既定计划共同资助（EPSCOR）。本奖颁奖典礼反映了NSF的法定任务，并通过评估了基金会的范围来诚实地对基金会的支持进行了诚实的支持。