Quest for understanding wetland carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus sequestration potential in agricultural landscapes

加拿大农业区的湿地越来越容易因气候变化引起的城市和农业扩张和改变而遭受损失。与这种损失相对应的是生态功能的损失--特别是碳、氮和磷固存的损失。这种生物地球化学损失对下游水质的完整性具有负面和潜在的严重影响，如温尼伯湖和伊利湖大面积藻华的复发。政策和管理做法力求保护水质，扭转下游营养物污染的问题，但目前对湿地固存和流域营养物迁移的水文和生物地球化学过程的技术认识不足，如果没有必要的科学知识，可能会损害或损害这些努力。到目前为止，还没有研究计划试图巩固努力，以提高这种理解在国家和多机构层面。该研究项目将通过连接领先的研究机构，政府和合作伙伴的合作计划，分享专业知识和监测工作，以解决这一缺点，以回答有关农业湿地及其固碳，氮和磷的能力的重点问题，并改善下游沃茨的完整性。监测和研究工作将集中在阿尔伯塔、马尼托巴和安大略脆弱的农业景观上。从该计划中获得的知识将提高在不同管理和气候变化情景下在地方和区域尺度上预测固碳潜力和下游藻华的能力。这将为加拿大和世界各地的政府和管理当局提供所需的工具，以调整湿地和碳政策工具，以实现其养分减少/固存目标。该研究项目涉及NSERC环境与农业目标领域以及该目标领域下六个研究主题中的三个：（1）水：健康，能源，安全;（2）食品和食品系统;（3）气候变化研究和技术。

Wetlands in the agricultural areas of Canada are increasingly vulnerable to loss due to urban and agricultural expansion and alteration due to climate change. Corresponding to this loss is the loss of ecological function - particularly the loss of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus sequestration. This biogeochemical loss has negative and potentially serious, implications for the integrity of downstream water quality, as seen in the recurrence of extensive algal blooms in Lake Winnipeg and Lake Erie. Policy and management practices seek to protect water quality and reverse the problem of downstream nutrient pollution, but the current technical understanding of the hydrological and biogeochemical processes that govern sequestration in wetlands and nutrient transport in watersheds is inadequate, and without the requisite scientific knowledge, may compromise or impair these efforts. To date, no research program has attempted to consolidate efforts to improve this understanding across national and multi-institutional levels. This research project will address this shortcoming by connecting leading research institutions, government, and operational partners in a collaborative program sharing expertise and monitoring efforts to answer focused questions relating to agricultural wetlands and their ability to sequester carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus and improve the integrity of downstream waters. Monitoring and research efforts will focus on vulnerable agricultural landscapes in Alberta, Manitoba, and Ontario. The knowledge gained from this program will improve the ability to predict sequestration potential and downstream algal blooms at local and regional scales under different management and climate change scenarios. This will give governments and management authorities (in Canada and worldwide) the tools required to tailor wetland and carbon policy instruments to meet their nutrient reduction/sequestration targets. This research project addresses the NSERC target area of Environment and Agriculture and three of the six listed research topics under this target area: (1) Water: Health, Energy, Security; (2) Food and Food Systems; and (3) Climate Change Research and Technology.