Costal futures and human legacies

这一分三部分的研究计划的目标是在人类遗产的背景下评估加拿大东部盐沼和西北大西洋潮间带水域未来生态系统服务的提供，即农业排水、营养丰富、温室效应和相关的海平面上升(SLR)。除当地排水外，这些扰动是世界各地土地管理和工业活动的遗留问题。即使社会被说服控制这些原因，他们也会坚持下去。“生态系统服务”是一个术语，用来表示一套生态系统功能，其中包括那些对社会具有广泛好处的功能，而不是传统上被认为是消耗性用途的功能。例如，潮汐盐沼作为碳和污染物(如痕量金属)的沉淀池，温室气体排放量较低(与淡水湿地相比)，以及沼泽植物生产的更直接好处，支持沿海渔业，为野生动物提供栖息地。具体地说，我的研究将：(1)评估沼泽植被和沼泽海拔对营养物质增加的反应；(2)检查一旦开垦用于农业的沼泽的恢复过程，以评估刻意恢复努力的潜在价值；以及(3)确定全球变暖是否会导致北美大西洋沿岸重要动植物物种分布的变化。

The objective of this three-segmented research program is to assess the future provision of ecosystem services of Eastern Canada's salt marshes and the intertidal waters of the NW Atlantic in the context of human legacies, i.e., drainage for agriculture, nutrient enrichment, greenhouse warming and associated sea level rise (SLR). With the exception of local drainage, these perturbations are a legacy of land management and industrial activity worldwide. They will persist even if society is convinced to control the causes. "Ecosystem services" is a term used to denote the set of ecosystem functions that includes those with broad benefit to society, beyond the conventionally considered consumptive uses. For instance, tidal salt marshes serve as sedimentary sinks for carbon and pollutants (e.g., trace metals) and have low greenhouse gas emissions (compared to freshwater wetlands), as well as the more direct benefits of marsh plant production supporting coastal fisheries and providing habitat for wildlife. Specifically, my research will:  1) evaluate the response of marsh vegetation and marsh elevation to nutrient increases; 2) examine the process of recovery of marshes once reclaimed for agriculture to assess the potential value of deliberate restoration efforts; and 3) determine if global warming will cause shifts in the distribution of important plant and animal species along the Atlantic coast of North America.