U.S.-Slovak Ecological Research on Responsiveness of Alpine Vegetation to Nitrogen Inputs

这个美国-科罗拉多大学博尔德分校的威廉·鲍曼和斯洛伐克科学院景观生态学研究所的卢博斯·哈拉达在斯洛伐克开展的一个项目比较了两个高山地区的反应，这两个地区由于污染和氮（N）和磷（P）施肥而造成的氮沉降的速率和时间范围不同。美国工厂位于科罗拉多落基山脉前岭的尼沃特岭，斯洛伐克工厂位于西塔特拉山脉，靠近Mt. Salatin。 其目标是评估生态系统对长期大气氮沉降对比水平的长期反应，历史上欧洲的氮沉降水平非常高，落基山脉相对较低。美国和斯洛伐克团队将合作研究植物-土壤反馈的实验方法，并评估环境变化对生态系统功能的影响。 具体来说，他们打算检查：1）的反应，接受高速率的N沉积几十年的高山植被的N和P施肥; 2）的重要性，植物物种组成和丰富的N保留在高山土壤中，和3）的程度，在植物物种组成的变化已经发生在过去的一个和二十年。 结果应提高我们的基本知识的高山系统的氮沉积植物生物量的比例是相对于其他生态系统高。 如果成功，该项目还可能导致更好的全球预测可用氮的后果。 该生态研究项目通过使美国和中欧的专家能够联合收割机互补人才并在共同感兴趣和能力强的领域共享研究资源，实现了推进科学知识的计划目标。

This U.S.-Slovak project between William Bowman of the University of Colorado, Boulder, and Lubos Halada of the Institute of Landscape Ecology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, compares the responses of two alpine sites that differ in their rates and the temporal extent of nitrogen deposition due to pollution and nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) fertilization. The US site is at Niwot Ridge in the Front Range of the Colorado Rocky Mountains and the Slovak site is in the Western Tatra Mountains, near Mt. Salatin. The goal is to assess ecosystem responses over long periods to contrasting levels of chronic atmospheric nitrogen deposition, which historically have been very high in Europe and relatively low in the Rockies. The U.S. and Slovak teams will collaborate on experimental approaches to examining plant-soil feedback and on assessing the impact of environmental change on ecosystem function. Specifically they intend to examine: 1) the response to N and P fertilization of alpine vegetation which received high rates of N deposition for several decades; 2) the importance of plant species composition and abundance to N retention in the alpine soils, and 3) the degree to which changes in the plant species composition has occurred over the past one and two decades. Results should improve our basic knowledge of alpine systems where the ratio of N deposition to plant biomass is high relative to other ecosystems. If successful, the project also may lead to better global predictions of the consequences from available nitrogen. This ecological research project fulfills the program objective of advancing scientific knowledge by enabling experts in the United States and Central Europe to combine complementary talents and share research resources in areas of strong mutual interest and competence.