Collaborative Research: Hierarchical Functioning of River Macrosystems in Temperate Steppes - From Continental to Hydrogeomorphic Patch Scales

合作研究：温带草原河流宏观系统的层次功能——从大陆到水文地貌斑块尺度

• 批准号: 1442600
• 负责人: Scott Kenner
• 金额: $ 26.17万
• 依托单位: South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2015-09-15 至 2021-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1442600&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Hierarchical; Functioning; River

The need to understand and manage ecosystems at larger regional to continental scale macrosystem levels is becoming increasingly crucial with global climate changes and impacts of exotic plants and animals in freshwater rivers and lakes. Macrosystem management requires an understanding of how different levels of spatial complexity (within a stream reach to entire river valley scales) and biotic organization (populations to ecosystems) affect the functioning of rivers and lakes. The present study will provide this information for 18 rivers spread equally between the two largest temperate steppe biomes of the world: the North American Great Plains and the Euro-Asian Steppes (including those in Mongolia). This project will provide research experiences for under-represented participants (particularly rural and Native American students), stimulate STEM program recruitment in largely under-represented (EPSCoR) states, support some faculty and students at primarily undergraduate institutions, and contribute to scientific education at both graduate and undergraduate institutions in two countries.These rivers flow through 3 major types of ecoregions within these temperate steppe biomes: mountain steppe shrublands, short-to-tall grasslands, and semi-arid shrublands. Scientists and students from the USA and Mongolia will sample the structure and functioning of these 18 rivers in a variety of hydrogeomorphic areas, such as constricted, meandering, braided, and anastomosing channel sections. Despite their similarity in biome and ecoregional types, the river macrosystems of the Great Plains and the Mongolian steppes vary substantially in fauna, flora, and community through ecosystem functioning. These variations result from differences in climatic patterns, the degree of riverine landscape modification (e.g., by dams, levees, and riparian modification), and the naturalness of the resident fauna. For example, most rivers in the USA contain some dams and many exotic fauna have been introduced, while the vast majority of Mongolian rivers contain no dams and their aquatic fauna is almost exclusively natural and different from those in the USA. Moreover, the Central Asian subcontinental area of Mongolia has one of the strongest warming signals on earth, with air temperatures rising three times faster than the overall northern hemisphere average. Consequently, riverine macrosystems in the USA can help predict changes to Mongolian rivers as a result of pending dam construction and possible species introductions to some rivers, while knowledge of responses of Mongolian macrosystems to more rapid climatic changes can help predict future effects in U.S. rivers. Therefore, this project's goals are to: (a) compare and contrast hierarchical scaling relationships and effects of system drivers and cross-scale interactions on rivers in similar biomes and ecoregions of the two continents; and (b) evaluate effects of climatic changes and anthropogenic disturbance to these river macrosystems.

在较大的区域至大陆尺度宏观系统水平上了解和管理生态系统的需求越来越重要，这对于全球气候变化以及淡水河流和湖泊中的外来动植物的影响越来越重要。宏观系统管理需要了解不同水平的空间复杂性（在流到整个河谷量表中）和生物组织（对生态系统的种群）如何影响河流和湖泊的功能。本研究将在世界上两个最大的温带草原生物群落之间为18条河流提供此信息：北美大平原和欧洲 - 亚洲草原（包括蒙古的欧洲 - 亚洲草原）。该项目将为代表性不足的参与者（尤其是美国原住民学生）提供研究经验，刺激STEM计划的招聘，在很大程度上是代表不足的国家（EPSCOR）国家，在本科机构的一些教职员工和学生中，主要是研究生和培训的研究生，并在两国进行了研究。山草原灌木丛，短到高高的草原和半干旱的灌木丛。来自美国和蒙古的科学家和学生将在各种水晶型区域中对这18条河流的结构和功能进行采样，例如狭窄，弯曲，编织和吻合的渠道部分。尽管在生物群岛和生态区类型上相似，但大平原的河流宏观系统和蒙古草原在动植物中通过生态系统功能在动植物中和社区差异很大。这些变化是由于气候模式的差异，河流景观修饰的程度（例如，大坝，堤防和河岸修饰）以及居民动物区系的自然性。例如，美国大多数河流都含有一些大坝，并且已经引入了许多异国情调的动物群，而绝大多数蒙古河流不包含大坝，其水生动物群几乎完全是自然的，与美国的水生动物群都不同。此外，蒙古的中亚次洲次大陆地区是地球上最强的变暖信号之一，空气温度升高的速度是整个北半球平均水平的三倍。因此，由于尚待大坝的建设以及对某些河流的可能物种的引入，美国河流宏观系统可以帮助预测蒙古河流的变化，而对蒙古大型系统对更快的气候变化的反应的了解可以帮助预测美国河流的未来影响。因此，该项目的目标是：（a）比较系统驱动因素的层次缩放关系和效果，以及在两个大洲类似生物群体和生物群体中对河流的跨尺度相互作用； （b）评估气候变化和人为障碍对这些河流宏观系统的影响。