Collaborative Research: PEATcosm: Understanding the interactions of climate, plant functional groups and carbon cycling in peatland ecosystems

该项目的目标是了解地下水位、植被和微生物的变化如何影响泥炭地的碳储存。泥炭地是积累碳的湿地，因为高水位会抑制分解。近几十年来更极端的夏季干旱导致泥炭地地下水位在仲夏大幅下降。泥炭地地下水位降低可能会加速泥炭分解，导致二氧化碳释放到大气中，此外，还会导致泥炭地植物群落组成和微生物组合的变化。在这项研究中，一个泥炭地中附生植物设施，其中地下水位和植物群落都可以通过实验进行控制，将被用来评估地下水位和植被是如何结合在一起影响泥炭地微生物群落和碳循环的。泥炭地占陆地表面的3%-5%，但拥有全球土壤有机碳的12%-30%。如果环境条件发生变化，这些大量的碳很容易释放回大气中。这项拟议工作的见解将为自然资源管理提供选择，并为生态系统模型提供信息，这些模型描述了面对气候变化时北部泥炭地内的植物群落、微生物动态和碳储存或释放。此外，还将与密歇根科技科学和环境推广中心合作，成立一个新的湿地生态学教师学院，让来自全国各地的教师接触泥炭和其他湿地的尖端研究。

The goal of this project is to understand how changes in water table, vegetation, and microbes affect carbon storage in peatlands. Peatlands are wetlands that accumulate carbon because high water tables inhibit decomposition. More extreme summer drought in recent decades has caused large mid-summer declines in peatland water tables. Lower peatland water tables could cause carbon dioxide release to the atmosphere by accelerating peat decomposition and, in addition, cause changes in peatland plant community composition and microbial assemblages. In this study, a peatland mesocosm facility, where both water table and plant communities can be experimentally controlled, will be used to assess how water table and vegetation combine to affect microbial communities and carbon cycling in peatlands.Peatlands represent 3-5% of the land surface, but harbor 12-30% of global soil organic carbon. This large amount of carbon is vulnerable to release back to the atmosphere if environmental conditions change. Insights from the proposed work will provide options for natural resource management and inform ecosystem models describing the plant communities, microbial dynamics, and carbon storage or release within northern peatlands in the face of climate change. In addition, a new Wetland Ecology Teachers Institute will be initiated in collaboration with the Michigan Tech Center for Science and Environmental Outreach to expose teachers from all over the nation to cutting edge research in peatlands and other wetlands.