Collaborative Research: Climate-mediated coupling of hydrology and biogeochemistry in arctic hillslopes

合作研究：气候介导的北极山坡水文学和生物地球化学耦合

• 批准号: 1107440
• 负责人: Sarah Godsey
• 金额: $ 24.61万
• 依托单位: Pennsylvania State Univ University Park
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2011
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2011-08-15 至 2012-10-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1107440&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Climate; mediated; coupling

This research will evaluate how climate-induced changes in water and nutrient cycles on land are propagated to stream networks. Increased export of water and the nutrients nitrogen and phosphorus from river networks to the Arctic Ocean reflects shifts in patterns of water and nutrient movement in the arctic. Changing climate may contribute to such shifts by causing release of nutrients from thawing permafrost, altering precipitation patterns, increasing rates of biogeochemical reactions, or expanding storage capacity in thawed soils. These changes may have far-reaching effects because flowing water connects land to downstream aquatic ecosystems, but the flowpaths connecting terrestrial ecosystems to stream networks remain poorly understood. This research will focus on transport and reaction of water and solutes within water tracks, which are linear regions of surface and subsurface flow that connect hillslopes to streams and account for up to 35% of watershed area in arctic tundra. Specific objectives are to: 1) quantify sources of water and dissolved nutrients to water tracks, 2) identify effects of snow accumulation, thaw depth, and storm characteristics on storage and transport of water and solutes, and 3) estimate the effects of hydrology on rates of nutrient cycling in water tracks. The research will have significance for predicting responses of the arctic to continued climate change through links between hydrologic and nutrient cycles. Further, research will increase understanding of the role of hillslopes in connecting terrestrial ecosystems to stream networks, contributing to filling a research gap in hydrology and biogeochemistry. In addition, this project will train young scientists (grade school through post-graduate) in the skills and methods used to study responses of water and nutrient cycles to climate change. Arctic tundra is inaccessible to most students, yet one of the environments most susceptible to climate-induced changes. This project will include opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students to conduct research in the arctic, development of online instructional materials that bring cutting-edge topics and research methods to undergraduate courses in hydrology, and science lessons for K-6 students that incorporate real-time field data.

这项研究将评估气候引起的土地上水和养分周期的变化如何传播到溪流网络。从河网络到北极海洋的氮和磷的出口增加，反映了北极水和养分运动模式的变化。气候变化可能会导致养分从融化的多年冻土，改变降水模式，生物地球化学反应的增加或扩大融化土壤中储存能力的扩大，从而导致这种转变。这些变化可能会产生深远的影响，因为流水将土地连接到下游水生生态系统，但是将陆地生态系统与溪流网络连接起来的流动路径仍然很少了解。这项研究将集中于水轨中的水和溶质的运输和反应，它们是将山坡连接到溪流的地面和地下流的线性区域，并占北极苔原中流域地区的35％。特定的目标是：1）量化水和溶解营养素的水源，2）确定积雪积聚，解冻深度以及暴风雨特征对水和溶质的储存和运输的影响，以及3）估计水文学对水路中营养循环速率的影响。这项研究对于通过水文和营养周期之间的联系来预测北极对持续气候变化的反应具有重要意义。此外，研究将增加对山坡在将陆地生态系统连接到流网络中的作用的理解，从而填补水文学和生物地球化学的研究差距。此外，该项目将培训年轻科学家（通过研究生小学），以研究水和营养周期对气候变化的反应的技能和方法。对于大多数学生来说，北极苔原是无法访问的，但是其中一种最容易受到气候引起的变化的环境。该项目将包括本科生和研究生的机会，可以开发在线教学材料的研究，这些材料为水文学的本科课程带来了尖端的主题和研究方法，以及为结合实时现场数据的K-6学生的科学课程。