RCN: Drought-Net: A global network to assess terrestrial ecosystem sensitivity to drought

RCN：干旱网：评估陆地生态系统对干旱敏感性的全球网络

• 批准号: 1354732
• 负责人: Melinda Smith
• 金额: $ 50万
• 依托单位: Colorado State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-05-15 至 2021-04-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1354732&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: RCN; Drought; Net; global; network

All ecosystems on earth will be impacted to some extent by climate change, and more frequent and severe droughts are forecast for many regions. Terrestrial ecosystems are known to vary dramatically in their responses to drought, and understanding why there are such big differences is very important for predicting the impacts of drought in a region or across North America. To effectively forecast how terrestrial ecosystems such as deserts, grasslands, and forests will respond to drought, ecologists must first study how each system responds to drought of a given severity, and then improve existing models by incorporating the factors that cause the large variation that has been seen in response to drought in past studies. Traditional site-based research by a single investigator working at a given site cannot provide this knowledge, as different methods are used in different studies. Coordinated experimental networks, with identical protocols and comparable measurements, are ideally suited for comparative studies at regional to global scales. This project will establish the Drought-Net Research Coordination Network to advance understanding of the determinants of terrestrial ecosystem responses to drought by bringing together an international group of scientists to conduct three complementary research coordination activities: 1) planning and coordinating new research using standardized measurements to leverage the value of existing drought experiments across the globe, 2) finalizing the design and facilitating the establishment of a new international network of coordinated drought experiments, and 3) training highly motivated graduate students to conduct synthetic and network-level research through Distributed Graduate Seminars focused on drought. Merging data from these activities will be an important activity conducted by Drought-Net participants in all career stages, particularly graduate students and postdoctoral researchers. Drought has social, human health, and economic impacts for people in the United States and around the world. Because climate change may increase the frequency or severity of drought, understanding the effects that droughts have on the sustainability of forests and grasslands is becoming an urgent issue. Drought-Net will focus on establishing international collaborations among researchers who study these challenges. The Distributed Graduate Seminars will train the next generation of global change scientists in collaborative synthetic and network-level research, with emphasis on increasing the involvement of underrepresented groups and geographic regions. Open calls for participation in network events and network-related products (datasets, newsletters, papers, reports, etc.) will be posted on the Drought-Net website, to encourage access by the broader scientific community and the general public. Finally, Drought-Net will partner with the "Ask-A-Biologist" program at Arizona State University to create articles and companion activities centered around drought impacts on terrestrial ecosystems. With its large Web footprint of 1.5 million visitors per year and links to science educators, broader impacts will be extended into the area of K-12 and life-long learners.

地球上的所有生态系统将在某种程度上受到气候变化的影响，并且预计许多地区都会预测更频繁和严重的干旱。 众所周知，陆地生态系统在他们对干旱的反应中会发生巨大变化，并理解为什么存在如此大的差异对于预测在一个地区或整个北美地区的干旱影响非常重要。 为了有效预测，陆地生态系统（如沙漠，草地和森林）将如何应对干旱做出反应，生态学家必须首先研究每个系统如何应对给定严重程度的干旱，然后通过纳入导致巨大差异的因素来改善现有模型，而这些因素在过去的研究中对响应响应的响应而言。在给定站点工作的单个研究者基于站点的研究无法提供此知识，因为不同的研究中使用了不同的方法。具有相同协议和可比测量的协调实验网络非常适合在区域与全球尺度的比较研究。 This project will establish the Drought-Net Research Coordination Network to advance understanding of the determinants of terrestrial ecosystem responses to drought by bringing together an international group of scientists to conduct three complementary research coordination activities: 1) planning and coordinating new research using standardized measurements to leverage the value of existing drought experiments across the globe, 2) finalizing the design and facilitating the establishment of a new international network of coordinated drought实验和3）培训高度积极进取的研究生，通过针对干旱的分布研究生研讨会进行合成和网络级别的研究。从这些活动中合并数据将是干旱网络参与者在所有职业阶段进行的重要活动，尤其是研究生和博士后研究人员。干旱对美国和世界各地的人们具有社会，人类健康和经济影响。由于气候变化可能会增加干旱的频率或严重性，因此了解干旱对森林和草原可持续性的影响正成为一个紧迫的问题。干旱网络将专注于在研究这些挑战的研究人员中建立国际合作。分布式研究生研讨会将培训下一代全球变化科学家的协作合成和网络级别的研究，重点是增加代表性不足的群体和地理区域的参与。公开呼吁参加网络活动和与网络相关的产品（数据集，新闻通讯，论文，报告等），将发布在干旱网络网站上，以鼓励更广泛的科学界和公众访问。最后，干旱网络将与亚利桑那州立大学的“ Ask-A-Biods”计划合作，以创建围绕对陆地生态系统的干旱影响的文章和伴侣活动。凭借其每年150万游客的大型网络足迹，并与科学教育者的联系链接，将扩大更广泛的影响力，将扩大到K-12和终身学习者的领域。