The role of lateral exchange in modulating the seaward flux of C, N, P.

横向交换在调节 C、N、P 向海通量中的作用。

• 批准号: NE/J01219X/1
• 负责人: Adrian Butler
• 金额: $ 35.52万
• 依托单位: Imperial College London
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2013 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=NE%2FJ01219X%2F1
• 关键词: role; lateral; exchange; modulating; seaward

All living organisms that make up life on Earth are made from a profusion of elements in the periodic table, including trace metals. However, in addition to oxygen (O) and hydrogen (H), the constituents of water, the three most important are Carbon (C), Nitrogen (N) and Phosphorus (P). These have become known as the Macro-Nutrients. These macronutrients are in constant circulation between living organisms (microbes, plants, animals, us) and the environment (atmosphere, land, rivers, oceans). Until human intervention (circa post industrial revolution and even more so since WWII) these 'cycles' were largely in balance: plants took up CO2 and produced O2 and, in order to do so, took up limited amounts of N and P from the environment (soils, rivers) and, on death, this "sequestered" C,N,P was returned back to the Earth. The problem is that human or anthropogenic activity has put these key macro-nutrient cycles out of balance. For example, vast quantities of once fossilised carbon, taken out of the atmosphere before the age of the dinosaurs, are being burnt in our power stations and this has increased atmospheric CO2 by about 30 % in recent times. More alarmingly, perhaps, is that man's industrial efforts have more than doubled the amount of N available to fertilize plants, and vast amounts of P are also released through fertilizer applications and via sewage. As the population continues to grow, and the developing world catches up, and most likely overtakes, the western world, these imbalances in the macro-nutrient cycles are set to be exacerbated. Indeed, such is the impact of man's activity on Earth that some are calling this the 'Anthropocene': Geology's new age. The environmental and social problems associated with these imbalances are diverse and complex; most people would be familiar with the ideas behind global warming and CO2 but fewer may appreciate the links to methane and nitrous oxide or the potential health impacts of excess nitrate in our drinking water. These imbalances are not being ignored and indeed a great deal of science, policy and management has been expended to mitigate the impacts of these imbalances. However, despite our progress in the science underpinning this understanding over the last 30-40 years or so, too much of this science has been focused on the individual macro-nutrients e.g. N, and in isolated parts of the landscape e.g. rivers. To compound this even further, such knowledge and understanding has often been garnered using disparate, or sometimes even antiquated, techniques. Anthropogenic activity has spread this macro-nutrient pollution all over the landscape. Some of it is taken up by life, some is stored, but a good deal of it works its way through the landscape towards our already threatened seas. We need to understand what happens to the macronutrients as they move, or flux, through different parts of the landscape and such understanding can only come about by a truly integrated science programme which examines the fate of the macronutrients simultaneously in different parts of the landscape. Here we will for the first time make parallel measurements, using truly state-of-the-art technologies, of the cycling and flux of all three macronutrients on the land and in the rivers that that land drains and, most importantly, the movement of water that transports the macro-nutrients from the land to the rivers e.g. the hydrology. Moreover, we will compare these parallel measurements across land to river in different types of landscapes: clay, sandstone and chalk, subjected to different agricultural usage in order to understand how the cycling on the land is connected, via the movement of water, to that in the rivers.

构成地球上生命的所有生物体都是由元素周期表上的大量元素构成的，包括微量金属。然而，除了构成水的氧(O)和氢(H)外，最重要的三个成分是碳(C)、氮(N)和磷(P)。这些被称为宏观营养素。这些常量营养素在生物体（微生物、植物、动物、人类）和环境（大气、土地、河流、海洋）之间不断循环。在人类干预之前（大约在后工业革命时期，甚至在二战之后），这些“循环”在很大程度上是平衡的：植物吸收二氧化碳并产生氧气，为了做到这一点，从环境（土壤，河流）中吸收有限数量的氮和磷，并且，在死亡时，这些“被隔离”的碳，氮，磷被返回到地球。问题是，人类或人为活动已经使这些关键的宏观营养循环失去平衡。例如，在恐龙时代之前从大气中取出的大量曾经的化石碳正在我们的发电站中燃烧，这使大气中的二氧化碳在最近增加了约30%。也许更令人担忧的是，人类的工业活动使可用于植物施肥的氮量增加了一倍以上，而大量的磷也通过施肥和污水释放出来。随着人口持续增长，发展中国家赶上西方世界，很可能超过西方世界，宏观营养循环中的这些不平衡必将加剧。事实上，人类活动对地球的影响如此之大，以至于有人称之为“人类世”：地质学的新时代。与这些不平衡有关的环境和社会问题多样而复杂；大多数人都熟悉全球变暖和二氧化碳背后的概念，但很少有人意识到甲烷和一氧化二氮的联系，或者我们饮用水中过量硝酸盐对健康的潜在影响。这些不平衡并没有被忽视，事实上，为了减轻这些不平衡的影响，已经投入了大量的科学、政策和管理。然而，尽管在过去30-40年左右的时间里，我们在科学上取得了进步，支持了这一理解，但太多的科学研究都集中在个体的宏观营养素（如氮）和孤立的景观部分（如河流）上。更复杂的是，这些知识和理解通常是使用不同的，有时甚至是过时的技术获得的。人为活动使这种大规模的营养污染遍布整个景观。其中一些被生命吸收，一些被储存起来，但很大一部分通过自然景观流向我们已经受到威胁的海洋。我们需要了解当宏量营养素在景观的不同部分移动或流动时发生了什么，而这样的理解只能通过一个真正综合的科学计划来实现，该计划同时研究景观的不同部分的宏量营养素的命运。在这里，我们将首次使用真正先进的技术，对土地和河流中所有三种常量营养素的循环和通量进行平行测量，最重要的是，对将这些常量营养素从土地输送到河流（例如水文）的水的运动进行平行测量。此外，我们将在不同类型的土地和河流中比较这些平行测量：粘土、砂岩和白垩，受到不同的农业用途，以了解土地上的循环是如何通过水的运动与河流中的循环联系在一起的。

项目成果

Oxygen dynamics and evaluation of the single-station diel oxygen model across contrasting geologies

不同地质条件下的氧动力学和单站昼夜氧模型评估

• DOI: 10.5194/bg-17-305-2020
• 发表时间: 2020
• 期刊: Biogeosciences
• 影响因子: 4.9
• 作者: Parker S

Oxygen dynamics and evaluation of the single station diel oxygen model across contrasting geologies

不同地质条件下的氧动力学和单站昼夜氧模型评估

• DOI: 10.5194/bg-2019-60
• 发表时间: 2019
• 作者: Parker S