LTER IV: Long-Term Ecological Research on Disturbance, Succession, and Ecosystem State Change at the Virginia Coast Reserve

弗吉尼亚海岸是一个充满活力的地方。弗吉尼亚海岸保护区（VCR） LTER的重点是了解自然和人为力量在沿海堰洲岛、泻湖和大陆系统生态之间的关系。频繁的风暴、潮汐和风导致海平面变化，影响了VCR 70%以上的陆地面积。在上个世纪，海平面上升了35厘米，大西洋沿岸的海平面上升幅度最大。70年前，优势物种鳗草从泻湖上消失了；在过去的5年里，重新殖民化开始了。此外，60-90%的堰洲岛高地是1979年以来的新地。这片土地的创造留下了长达一个世纪的遗产，我们现在可以用来进行自然实验。VCR LTER项目新阶段的中心假设是VCR流域内的生态系统和景观动态以及土地利用模式由陆地、海洋和淡水台面的垂直位置控制。我们的研究方法是利用短期操作实验、长期观察和计算机模型。我们还将利用大自然的“实验”，不断创造新的景观，重新定居的物种可能会使泻湖恢复到早期的状态。我们还将扩大研究范围，考察半岛上56个流域，这些流域目前的覆盖率从80%的森林到80%的农业不等。这项研究是解决与海陆界面环境变化相关的基本社会问题的核心。

The Virginia coast is an extremely dynamic landscape. The Virginia Coastal Reserve (VCR) LTER focuses on understanding the relationships between natural and anthropogenic forces on the ecology of a coastal barrier island, lagoon and mainland system. Frequent storms, tides, and winds cause sea level variations that affect over 70% of VCR's land area. Over the last century sea level rose 35 cm, the highest rise along the Atlantic coast. Seventy years ago the dominant species, eelgrass, disappeared from the lagoons; recolonization began anew in the past 5 years. In addition, 60-90% of the barrier island uplands is new land since 1979. This land creation has left a century-long legacy that we can now use for natural experiments. The central hypothesis of the new phase of the VCR LTER program is that ecosystem and landscape dynamics and land use patterns within the watersheds of the VCR are controlled by the vertical position of the land, the sea, and the freshwater table surfaces. Our research approach is to utilize short-term manipulative experiments, long-term observations, and computer models. We will also capitalize on nature's "experiments" where new landscapes continue to be created and recolonizing species may be moving lagoons back to conditions of earlier times. We will also expand our research to examine 56 watersheds on the peninsula, which currently vary in cover from 80% forest to 80% agriculture. This research goes to the heart of solving fundamental societal problems associated with environmental change at the land-sea interface.