DDIG: Controls on post-wildfire carbon accumulation and release patterns

这项研究的目的是了解大规模的、取代林分的野火如何影响西南黄松林的生态系统碳(C)平衡。调查人员正在检查木材分解的过程，因为它是火灾后碳损失的主要原因。他们将确定木材腐烂真菌的群落结构，并观察群落如何响应火灾和火灾后的时间变化。他们利用观察和实验研究结合分子技术来研究真菌群落，并将它们与分解速率联系起来。了解林分野火如何改变生态系统对于制定整个美国西部的预测至关重要。鉴于大气中二氧化碳（CO2）水平的上升和气候变化导致了更大、更频繁的灾难性野火，这一信息就更加重要了。这种类型的火灾会释放大量的二氧化碳，并留下大量的死木，这些死木在火灾发生后很长一段时间内都会释放二氧化碳。虽然已知木材腐烂真菌是C循环的主要组成部分，但严重火灾对这些真菌物种组成的影响程度以及物种组成如何影响木材腐烂率的了解甚少。

The goal of this research is to understand how large, stand-replacing wildfires affect the ecosystem carbon (C) balance of southwestern ponderosa pine forests. The investigators are examining the process of wood decomposition because it accounts for the majority of C loss following fire. They will identify the community structure of wood-decay fungi and observe how the community changes in response to fire and with time since fire. They are using observational and experimental studies in conjunction with molecular techniques to study the fungal communities and connect them to decomposition rates. An understanding of how stand-replacing wildfires alter ecosystem C is critical to formulating C predictions throughout the western U.S. This information is even more significant in light of rising atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels and climate changes that have led to larger, more frequent catastrophic wildfires. This type of fire emits large amounts of CO2 and leaves a vast legacy of dead wood, which releases CO2 long after the fire. Although it is known that wood decay fungi are a major component of C cycles, the extent that severe fires affect the species composition of these fungi, and how the species composition influences rates of wood decay are poorly understood.