LTREB Renewal: Fourteen years of simulated climate change in an ancient limestone grassland: connecting responses of genotypes, species, and ecosystems

在这个项目中，研究人员试图了解气候变化对草原生态系统的长期影响。 他们利用土壤和气温变暖以及夏季干旱或降雨量增加的数十年模拟实验，来确定不同植物物种的特征如何预测未来几十年群落和生态系统过程的变化。 该项目还将对气候变化影响的研究扩展到基因层面;最近的证据表明，一些生态系统可能对气候变化具有抵抗力，因为一些物种能够迅速适应新的环境。迄今为止的结果表明，个别物种在小的空间尺度上作出反应，这些变化可能是适应性的。 在未来五年的十年项目中，研究人员将提供长期数据，揭示植物群落结构在应对气候变化时表现出明显稳定性的细节。温带草原是全球生产力的关键贡献者，它们对全球气候变化的反应对人类福祉的未来至关重要。 虽然肥沃的草原显示出对模拟变暖的快速植被变化，但那些含有生长缓慢物种的土壤不太肥沃的草原似乎对快速气候变化更具抵抗力。 由于后一种草原占全世界牧场和牧场的绝大多数，它们对气候变化的适应性将对未来的粮食和纤维生产产生重大影响。 巴克斯顿的研究网站已经获得了相当多的媒体关注，并将继续提高社区对气候变化研究的认识，通过访问感兴趣的公众，现在通过与生态连续性信托基金的伙伴关系提供便利。这项研究每年积累的数据集目前可供其他研究人员在线使用。来自不同国家的具有广泛种族和族裔代表性的本科生和研究生的持续参与和指导为教育提供了宝贵的机会，并促进了气候变化科学方面的国际交流。

In this project, researchers seek to understand the long-term impacts of climate change on grassland ecosystems. They use multi-decadal simulation experiments of warmed soil and air temperatures and of summer drought or elevated rainfall to identify how well the characteristics of different plant species predict how communities and ecosystem processes will shift in coming decades. This project also extends research on climate change impacts to the genetic level; recent evidence indicates that some ecosystems may be resistant to climate change because some species can adapt rapidly to new environments. Results to date show that individual species respond over small spatial scales and that these changes may be adaptive. Over the next five years of a ten year project, the researchers will provide long-term data that reveal the details that underlie an apparent stability of plant community structure in response to climate change. Temperate grasslands are a key contributor to global productivity and their response to global climate change is of critical importance to the future of human welfare. While fertile grasslands show rapid vegetation shifts in response to simulated warming, those on less fertile soils that contain slower-growing species appear more resistant to rapid climate change. Because the latter grasslands account for a large majority of pasture- and range-lands throughout the world, their recalcitrance to climate shifts will have significant ramifications for the future of food and fiber production. The Buxton research site has garnered considerable media attention and will continue to increase community awareness of climate change research through visits from the interested public, now facilitated by a partnership with the Ecological Continuity Trust. The dataset accumulated annually from this study is currently available online to other researchers. Continued involvement and mentoring of undergraduate and graduate students of broad racial and ethnic representation from different nations provides valuable opportunities for education and advances international communication in climate change science.