Collaborative Research: OPUS: Understanding the Complexity of Grazing Ecosystems Through Synthesis

地球上的大部分植物材料都被大型动物消耗。在北美，这些动物包括食草动物，如鹿、麋鹿、驼鹿和野牛。这些食草动物对草原和森林有着深远的影响。由于食草动物的不同，植物生产、养分循环和碳储存等生态系统过程可能会有很大不同。了解控制这种变化的因素对于管理支持这些动物的生态系统至关重要。不幸的是，人们对引起放牧草原时空变化的因素知之甚少。该项目通过分析黄石国家公园(YNP)三十多年来收集的大量数据，帮助填补这一知识空白。该项目还为公众提供了宝贵的获取独特数据集的机会，为本科生提供了培训机会，并向公众以及国家公园管理局的科学家、管理人员和解释人员提供了联系。自1988年以来，YNP一直在测量迁徙的麋鹿和野牛群对草原土壤和植物过程的影响。在此期间，在42个不同的草原地点进行了11个不同的田间试验。这些独立的数据集一起包括对食草动物对关键植物和土壤过程的影响的测量。展示了广泛的植物群落类型、土壤条件和气候条件。该项目有三个目标：(1)将YNP收集的数据汇编成一个单一的数据集，并将其上传到一个公共访问平台；(2)确定气候、植物组成、土壤属性和草食动物对生态系统过程的相对影响；(3)使用DayCent模型研究这些过程对YNP草原土壤碳储量的影响。这些数据的综合提供了一个难得的机会，可以机械地理解空间和时间变化如何与大型草食动物相互作用，以确定草原植物和土壤过程。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Much of the plant material on Earth is consumed by large animals. In North America, these animals include herbivores such as deer, elk, moose, and bison. These grazers have profound effects on grasslands and forests. Ecosystem processes such as plant production, nutrient cycling, and carbon storage can vary widely due to herbivores. Understanding the factors controlling that variation is critical for management of the ecosystems that support these animals. Unfortunately, the forces causing spatial and temporal variation on grazed grasslands are poorly understood. This project helps fill that knowledge gap by analyzing a large amount of data gathered over more than three decades in Yellowstone National Park (YNP). The project also provides valuable public access to a unique dataset, training opportunities for undergraduate students, and outreach to the public as well as to National Park Service scientists, managers, and interpretive staff.The effects of migratory herds of elk and bison on grassland soil and plant processes have been measured in YNP since 1988. Over that period, 11 different field experiments were conducted at 42 different grassland sites. Together those independent data sets include measurements of herbivore effects on key plant and soil processes. A wide range of plant community types, soil conditions and climate conditions are represented. There are three goals of the project: (1) to compile the data collected in YNP into a single data set and upload it to a platform for public access, (2) to determine the relative effects of climate, plant composition, soil properties, and herbivores on ecosystem processes, and (3) to use the DayCent model to study the effects of these processes on soil carbon storage in YNP grasslands. The synthesis of the data provides a rare opportunity to mechanistically understand how both spatial and temporal variability interact with large herbivores to determine grassland plant and soil processes.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.