Long-Term Studies of Disturbances as They Affect Ecological Processes in Landscapes of the Southern Appalachians

9632854科尔曼这项研究将继续调查自然和人为干扰的程度和复杂性，以及它们如何沿着景观中的环境梯度与生态过程相互作用。这项工作建立在对阿巴拉契亚山脉南部景观过程的广泛长期研究的基础上，跨越了田纳西州小流域和法国布罗德河流域的四个分辨率级别(地块、流域、景观和区域)。干扰和环境异质性对种群、群落和生态过程的个体和相互作用的影响形成了这项拟议的LTER研究的统一主题。研究小组将重点研究三个领域：(1)阿巴拉契亚山脉南部干扰和环境异质性的特征；(2)干扰和环境异质性对种群和群落的影响；(3)干扰和环境异质性对生物地球化学循环和生态系统过程的影响。该项目建立在对Coweeta盆地发生的扰动的广泛了解的基础上，并继续表征环境的异质性，保持了某些变量60多年来的连续性。随着重点扩展到阿巴拉契亚南部地区，还将考虑历史火灾制度和土地利用变化的社会经济驱动因素。将在一系列尺度上评估干扰和环境异质性对动植物种群的影响，并将讨论资源变异性对陆地和水生生物多样性的影响这一关键问题。利用新的研究和持续的长期测量相结合，研究人员将检查环境异质性和干扰在调节溪流、河岸地带和森林的生态系统池和过程中的作用。这种研究方法利用了长期现场测量、实验和建模的综合方案。

9632854 Coleman This research will continue investigations on the extent and complexity of natural and human-caused disturbances, and how they interact with ecological processes along environmental gradients in the landscape. This work builds upon extensive long-term studies of landscape processes in the southern Appalachians and spans four levels of resolution (plot, watershed, landscape and region) in the Little Tennessee and French Broad River basins. Individual and interacting effects of disturbance and environmental heterogeneity on populations, communities, and ecological processes forms the unifying theme of this proposed LTER research. The research team will focus on three areas of inquiry: (1) characterization of disturbance and environmental heterogeneity in the southern Appalachians, (2) effects of disturbance and environmental heterogeneity on populations and communities, and (3) effects of disturbance and environmental heterogeneity on biogeochemical cycling and ecosystem processes. The project builds on extensive understanding of disturbances occurring with the Coweeta basin and continues to characterize environmental heterogeneity, maintaining continuity in the 60+ year record for some variables. As the focus expands to the southern Appalachian region, historical fire regime and socio-economic drivers of land-use change will also be considered. The effects of disturbance and environmental heterogeneity on plant and animal populations will be assessed at a range of scales and key questions will be addressed on the effects of resource variability on terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity. Using a combination of new studies and continued long-term measurements, investigators will examine the role of environmental heterogeneity and disturbance in regulating ecosystem pools and processes in streams, riparian zones, and forests. This research approach utilizes an integrated program of long-term field measurements, experiments and modeling.