DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Earthworm invasions as drivers of soil carbon sequestration in north temperate forests

论文研究：蚯蚓入侵是北温带森林土壤固碳的驱动因素

• 批准号: 1110494
• 负责人: Knute Nadelhoffer
• 金额: $ 1.5万
• 依托单位: Regents of the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
• 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: 2011-06-01 至 2013-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1110494&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: DISSERTATION; RESEARCH; Earthworm; invasions; drivers

The uptake and storage of carbon in North American temperate forests is an important ecosystem service, locking up a portion of the carbon that would otherwise accumulate in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide, a potent greenhouse gas. Forests in the northern hemisphere take up many million tons of carbon annually and store about half of it in soils. Various factors can affect rates of forest carbon storage, including invasive species, which can dramatically change above and below-ground processes. One such invader that has tremendous potential to affect carbon storage in forest soils is the exotic earthworm, whose burrowing and feeding are central to soil function and soil carbon distribution. Human activities of the past century have led to introductions of several earthworm species into North American temperate forests. Although there has been a lot of recent research on earthworm invasions, no single study has examined changes in all pools of soil carbon that may be impacted. Further, no other study has examined how interactions among different earthworm species will affect carbon storage. This project will answer unresolved questions regarding changes in forest carbon storage in response to invasions involving multiple earthworm species. This research will have important implications for assessments of exotic earthworm invasion impacts on forest carbon balances in temperate regions. Further, results will improve our understanding of biological invasions on temperate forests and their impacts on forest environmental, economic, and cultural values. The project also has an important international collaboration component that involves researchers in France, where these worms invaded forests long ago. Outcomes will have implications for science policy. For example, there are no current restrictions on the importation of exotic earthworm species to the U.S., nor is there current legislation designed to limit their further spread.

北美温带森林的碳吸收和储存是一项重要的生态系统服务，它锁定了部分碳，否则这些碳会以二氧化碳（一种强效温室气体）的形式积聚在大气中。北半球的森林每年吸收数百万吨碳，并将其中约一半储存在土壤中。各种因素都会影响森林碳储存率，包括入侵物种，它会极大地改变地上和地下过程。一种对森林土壤碳储存具有巨大潜力的入侵者是外来蚯蚓，其挖洞和进食对于土壤功能和土壤碳分布至关重要。上个世纪的人类活动导致几种蚯蚓物种被引入北美温带森林。尽管最近有很多关于蚯蚓入侵的研究，但没有一项研究检查了可能受到影响的所有土壤碳库的变化。此外，还没有其他研究探讨不同蚯蚓物种之间的相互作用将如何影响碳储存。该项目将回答有关森林碳储存变化以应对多种蚯蚓物种入侵的尚未解决的问题。这项研究将对评估外来蚯蚓入侵对温带地区森林碳平衡的影响具有重要意义。此外，研究结果将提高我们对温带森林生物入侵及其对森林环境、经济和文化价值影响的理解。该项目还有一个重要的国际合作部分，涉及法国的研究人员，这些蠕虫很久以前就入侵了法国的森林。结果将对科学政策产生影响。例如，目前美国没有对外来蚯蚓物种的进口限制，也没有旨在限制其进一步传播的立法。