Carbon-Nitrogen Analyzer

测量土壤和其他环境介质中的碳(C)和氮(N)浓度，对于了解土壤在气候变化中的作用以及确定最大限度地增加土壤储存和最大限度地减少向大气和水道的“渗漏”的管理做法至关重要。这项建议是关于燃烧CN分析仪，它能够测量各种环境介质中的碳和氮，包括土壤、泥炭、植被和土壤改良剂(例如，木灰)。加拿大储存着世界上约1/4的土壤碳，其中大部分在泥炭地。当碳通过火灾、伐木、采矿或农业等自然或人为干扰释放到大气中时，它可能会加剧气候变暖。同样，土壤中的氮素储存与人类管理密切相关，包括在农业景观中施肥，过量的土壤氮素可以作为温室气体释放到大气中，或者转化为硝酸盐，硝酸盐是一种人类毒物，也是地表水域藻类大量繁殖的刺激物。通过这笔赠款购买的仪器将使研究人员能够测量自然和干扰环境中的碳和氮浓度，包括受金属开采、森林采伐、酸沉积和集约化农业影响的地点，并利用这些信息为管理实践提供信息。这项研究是实现联邦和省级关于气候变化、土壤健康和水质改善的目标所必需的。

The measurement of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) concentrations in soils and other environmental media is critical to understanding the role of soils in climate change, and for identifying management practices that maximize soil storage and minimize `leakage' to the atmosphere and waterways. This proposal is for a combustion CN Analyzer that is capable of measuring both C and N in a variety of environmental media, including soil, peat, vegetation and soil amendments (e.g., wood ash). Canada stores approximately ¼ of the world's soil C, with much of it found in peatlands. When that C is released to the atmosphere through natural or human disturbances like fires, logging, mining or agriculture, it can contribute to climate warming. Likewise, N storage in soils is strongly associated with human management, including fertilizer application to agricultural landscapes, and excess soil N can be released to the atmosphere as a greenhouse gas or transformed into nitrate, a human toxicant and stimulator of algal blooms in surface waters. Instrumentation purchased through this grant will allow the researchers to measure C and N concentrations in both natural and disturbed environments, including sites impacted by metal mining, forest harvesting, acid deposition and intensive agriculture and use this information to inform management practices. This research is needed to meet federal and provincial targets around climate change, soil health and water quality improvement.