Collaborative Research: RAPID: Determining the Impacts of a Combined Historical Watershed and Regional Drought on Coastal Louisiana Wetland Ecohydrology

合作研究：RAPID：确定历史流域和区域干旱对路易斯安那州沿海湿地生态水文学的综合影响

• 批准号: 2408854
• 负责人: John White
• 金额: $ 2.3万
• 依托单位: Louisiana State University
• 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: 2023-12-01 至 2024-11-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2408854&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; RAPID; Determining; Impacts

Episodic drought events caused by climate change threaten coastal wetland vegetation through the lowering of the water table and salinization of surface and groundwater. Prior observations have been unable to directly link vegetation response to drought-driven saltwater water intrusion. The lack of connection makes it challenging to generate holistic models of wetland change that can accurately capture droughts effects in a sensitive way over time and space. Improving the current body of knowledge is needed given the disproportionately large impact wetland ecosystem services have on coastal protection schema and regional economies (e.g. fisheries and eco-tourism). This project will leverage the ongoing, historic droughts in Louisiana and the Midwestern United States, and low Mississippi River water levels, to investigate the relationship between drought intensity, duration, and onset and coastal wetland vegetative response and hydrologic conditions. The findings can be incorporated into ongoing coastal wetland management and planning in Louisiana, which is investing significant resources into the problem. Louisiana holds 40% of all coastal wetlands in the United States which means that project findings will yield insight for many areas beyond the study sites, including other low sloping coastlines bordering the Gulf of Mexico.The co-incident of a historical local drought with historically low water levels and flow in the river sets the stage for a high soil-salinity event in brackish and fresh marshes and coastal freshwater forests, which are not adapted to these conditions. The goals of this research are to determine the effect of drought-driven groundwater and salinity changes on coastal wetland vegetation, measure how long it takes the groundwater level and salinity to return to background levels, and investigate if proximity to the river protects some wetlands from associated stresses. At both forest and marsh sites, conductivity-temperature-water level sensors will be installed in shallow wells. Vegetation will be qualitatively assessed for health and abundance during site visits and by remote sensing. The project is leveraging historical data from continuous monitoring stations maintained by the state. These data can be used for predictive modeling to determine how present-day drought will affect future plant responses, leading to worsening of marsh and coastal forest loss in the Gulf of Mexico.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.

气候变化引起的情节干旱事件威胁着沿海湿地植被，通过降低地下水位和地表和地下水的盐水化。先前的观察结果无法将植被的反应与干旱驱动的盐水侵入。缺乏连接使生成湿地变化的整体模型的整体模型具有挑战性，该模型可以随着时间和空间的敏感方式准确地捕获干旱的影响。鉴于湿地生态系统服务对沿海保护图架和区域经济的影响不成比例的影响不成比例（例如渔业和生态旅游），因此需要改善当前知识。该项目将利用路易斯安那州和美国中西部正在进行的历史性干旱以及密西西比州低的水位，以调查干旱强度，持续时间，发病率和沿海湿地植物反应与水文条件之间的关系。这些发现可以纳入路易斯安那州正在进行的沿海湿地管理和规划中，该管理正在将大量资源投入到该问题上。路易斯安那州占美国所有沿海湿地的40％，这意味着，项目发现将对研究地点以外的许多领域产生见解 状况。这项研究的目标是确定干旱驱动的地下水和盐度变化对沿海湿地植被的影响，衡量地下水水平和盐度需要多长时间才能恢复背景水平，并调查与河流的接近是否可以保护一些湿地免受相关压力的影响。在森林和沼泽地，电导率 - 温水水平传感器都将安装在浅井中。植被将在现场就诊期间和遥感期间定性评估健康和丰度。该项目正在利用国家维护的连续监视站的历史数据。这些数据可用于预测建模，以确定当今的干旱将如何影响未来的植物反应，从而导致墨西哥湾中的沼泽和沿海森林损失恶化。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并被认为是值得通过基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛影响的审查审查标准来通过评估来通过评估来获得支持的。