COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: The intersection of vegetation organization and watershed topology: Ecohydrologic imprints in runoff generation and stream discharge

合作研究：植被组织和流域拓扑的交叉点：径流生成和溪流排放的生态水文印记yan E. Emanuel，阿巴拉契亚州立大学brian L. McGlynn，蒙大拿州立大学摘要该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。植被在陆地景观的水平衡中起着关键而复杂的作用。造成这种复杂性的一个方面是植被的空间异质性。特别是，植被空间分布对山坡和流域尺度径流过程的影响仍然知之甚少，这在很大程度上是由于陆地景观内部和景观之间地貌和植被之间的空间关系的多样性，以及空间和时间变化的蒸发和蒸腾。本研究项目将发展一个概念性框架，将植被视为山坡和流域网络中径流生成和河流排放的时间动态和空间异质性控制。该框架将使用密集的现场测量、机载光探测和测距（LIDAR）测量以及耦合水文和生态生理过程的数值模拟相结合的方法进行测试。蒙大拿州落基山脉北部和北卡罗来纳州阿巴拉契亚山脉南部的小流域（约500公顷）将作为现场地点，配备水流计、气压计、气象站检测浅层地下水和河流流量对植被活动（即对气象条件的蒸腾响应）和植被异质性（即山坡和流域之间不同的植被分布和特征）的响应。激光雷达将用于评估山坡和流域网络内的植被分布，为水文过程对这些尺度上植被空间安排的敏感性提供经验证据。数值模拟将提供对生物和物理过程的作用的理解，在编码到模型中的算法的约束下，在观测到的流域内和流域之间的水文响应中。通过比较来自两个不同生物地理和气候区域的山坡和流域，该项目将对植被如何在这些尺度上影响水文过程有更广泛的了解，解决流域水文学和植被生态生理学跨学科界面的关键研究需求。该项目的更广泛影响包括促进以本科生为主的研究机构的研究，培养未来的科学家，加强研究密集型机构和以本科生为主的机构之间的合作，促进早期职业科学家的研究，以及使地球科学的参与多样化。在这个项目的过程中，pi还将为来自阿巴拉契亚州立大学（ASU）和蒙大拿州立大学（MSU）的学生开发和教授一个协作的、基于实地的课程。此外，该研究项目将增加代表性不足的人口对科学的参与。这两个pi都直接参与了为代表性不足的人群提供研究机会和指导的项目，包括密歇根州立大学的美国印第安人研究机会项目和亚利桑那州立大学的教员研究员项目。该项目将直接涉及两名教师，一名博士生，两名本科生研究人员，以及来自两个机构的大约20名课程在校生。

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: The intersection of vegetation organization and watershed topology: Ecohydrologic imprints in runoff generation and stream dischargeRyan E. Emanuel, Appalachian State UniversityBrian L. McGlynn, Montana State UniversityAbstractThis award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). Vegetation plays a key, though complex role in the water balances of terrestrial landscapes. One aspect contributing to this complexity is the spatial heterogeneity of vegetation. In particular, the effects of the spatial distribution of vegetation on runoff processes at hillslope and watershed scales remain poorly understood, due in large part to the variety of spatial relationships between landforms and vegetation within and among terrestrial landscapes combined with spatially and temporally variable evaporation and transpiration. This research project will develop a conceptual framework that considers vegetation as a temporally dynamic and spatially heterogeneous control on runoff generation and stream discharge within hillslope and watershed networks. The framework will be tested using a combination of intensive field-based measurements, airborne light detection and ranging (LIDAR) measurements, and numerical simulations of coupled hydrological and ecophysiological processes. Small (approximately 500 ha) watersheds in the northern Rocky Mountains of Montana and the southern Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina will serve as field sites instrumented with stream gages, piezometers, and weather stations to detect shallow groundwater and stream discharge responses to vegetation activity (i.e. transpiration in response to meteorological conditions) and vegetation heterogeneity (i.e. different vegetation distributions and characteristics among hillslopes and watersheds). LIDAR will be used to assess the distribution of vegetation within hillslopes and watershed networks, providing empirical evidence for the sensitivity of hydrological processes to the spatial arrangement of vegetation at these scales. Numerical modeling will provide understanding of the roles of biological and physical processes, within the constraints of the algorithms coded into the model, in the observed hydrological responses, both within and among watersheds. By comparing hillslopes and watersheds from two different biogeographical and climatological regions, this project will result in a more generalized understanding of how vegetation affects hydrological processes at these scales, addressing an area of critical research need at the interdisciplinary interface of watershed hydrology and vegetation ecophysiology. Broader impacts of this project include promoting research in a predominantly undergraduate institution, training future scientists, strengthening collaborations between research intensive and predominantly undergraduate institutions, advancing research for an early-career scientist and diversifying participation in the earth sciences. During the course of this project, the PIs will also develop and teach a collaborative, field-based course for students from both Appalachian State University (ASU) and Montana State University (MSU). Additionally, the research project will increase participation of underrepresented populations in the sciences. Both PIs are directly involved in programs to provide research opportunities and mentoring to underrepresented populations, including the American Indian Research Opportunities program at MSU and the Faculty Fellows program at ASU. The project will directly involve two faculty members, one Ph.D. student, two undergraduate researchers, and approximately twenty course enrollees from both institutions.