DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Carex stricta tussock formation, persistence, and potential for carbon sequestration

该补助金将资助博士论文研究。 草丛是一种含碳结构，由世界各地的苔原、莎草草甸和草原生态系统中的多种植物物种组成，但人们对它们如何形成或储存多少碳知之甚少。在北美东部的湿地，植物苔草（Carex stricta）生长在20厘米或更高的草丛中。 对C. stricta草丛的形成，维护，以及这些结构如何储存碳，研究生将使用现场调查，户外生长实验，实验室测定和新颖的14C方法相结合。 她将（1）量化从威斯康星州莎草草甸收集的草丛的组成，（2）比较在六个水位和两个营养添加处理下的草丛形成，（3）测量有机质的产生和腐烂，（4）确定野外生长的草丛中碳化合物的年龄。 这些结果将共同构成恢复生态系统服务的基础（即，碳储存、群落结构），以及退化的莎草草甸和新湿地，如雨水流域。研究结果将作为会议报告、同行评审文献中的论文和面向公众的传单分发给科学家和管理人员。该研究生还与一名本科生和一名高中生物教师合作，为低收入少数民族高中生开展活动，旨在提高他们对生态系统功能的理解。

This grant will fund doctoral dissertation research. Tussocks are carbon-containing structures that a diversity of plant species construct in tundra, sedge meadow, and grassland ecosystems around the world, but little is known about how they form or how much carbon they store. In eastern North American wetlands, the plant Carex stricta grows tussocks of 20 cm or more in height. To investigate C. stricta tussock formation, maintenance, and how these structures store carbon, the graduate student will use a combination of field surveys, an outdoor growth experiment, laboratory assays, and novel 14C methodology. She will (1) quantify the composition of tussocks collected from Wisconsin sedge meadows, (2) compare tussock formation under six water-level and two nutrient-addition treatments, (3) measure organic matter production and decay, and (4) determine the age of carbon compounds in field-grown tussocks. Together, the results will form the basis for restoring ecosystem services (i.e., carbon storage, community structure) to degraded sedge meadows and novel wetlands, such as stormwater basins. Research findings will be disseminated to scientists and managers as conference presentations, papers in the peer-reviewed literature, and leaflets for the general public. The graduate student is also collaborating with an undergraduate student and a high school biology teacher in the development of activities for low-income minority high school students that aim to enhance their understanding of ecosystem functioning.