Doctoral Dissertation Research: Simulating Compositional and Structural Change in a Near Boreal Forest

博士论文研究：模拟近北方森林的成分和结构变化

• 批准号: 1634070
• 负责人: Kurt Kipfmueller
• 金额: $ 1.6万
• 依托单位: University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-09-01 至 2019-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1634070&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Simulating; Compositional

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATIONGEOGRAPHY SPATIAL SCIENCES (GSS) PROGRAMABSTRACTThis doctoral dissertation research will investigate the influences of competing factors such as climate conditions, land use, and fire that drive structural and compositional change in the near Boreal forests of the Upper Great Lakes region. The research will provide an improved understanding of the response of vegetation to these impacts in order to promote long-term forest sustainability and resilience. Enhanced forest landscape simulation modeling will provide new insights regarding vegetation and environmental dynamics, and a more holistic understanding of the impacts of disturbances on the ecosystem. Outcomes from this research will provide land resources managers and stakeholders with potential future forest conditions scenarios enabling them to make informed, outcome-based environmental management decisions. Better management efforts will not only protect the ecosystem but also enhance recreational and economic activities in the region. The project includes education and training opportunities for undergraduate students from underrepresented populations to enrich their research experiences. As a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement award, this award will provide support to enable a promising student to establish a strong independent research career.The near boreal forests of the Upper Great Lakes have undergone profound compositional, structural, and functional changes during the century following Euro-American settlement. The historical dominance of red pine in the region is representative of fire's imprint on the landscape, however, 20th century land-use modification has generally excluded fire across the landscape, reducing dominance of resilient species and potentially increasing susceptibility of the regional forests to future environmental change. The research supported by this award will focus on three core questions: (1) Are there an adequate number lightning fires to maintain red pine stands in the Upper Great Lakes region? (2) How would the modern-day landscape composition and structure differ in the absence of 20th century landscape modification? (3) How will environmental changes influence fire regimes and subsequent vegetation patterns in the future? The doctoral student will use the landscape disturbance and succession model, LANDIS-II to simulate forest compositional and structural change. Four scenarios will be simulated, ranging temporally from pre-settlement times to AD 2300, to model forest changes in response to varying fire, climate, and land scenarios.

国家科学基金会地理空间科学 (GSS) 项目摘要本博士论文研究将调查气候条件、土地利用和火灾等竞争因素对五大湖上游地区附近北方森林结构和成分变化的影响。 该研究将更好地了解植被对这些影响的反应，以促进森林的长期可持续性和恢复力。 增强的森林景观模拟模型将为植被和环境动态提供新的见解，并更全面地了解干扰对生态系统的影响。 这项研究的结果将为土地资源管理者和利益相关者提供潜在的未来森林条件情景，使他们能够做出明智的、基于结果的环境管理决策。更好的管理工作不仅可以保护生态系统，还可以增强该地区的娱乐和经济活动。 该项目为来自弱势群体的本科生提供教育和培训机会，以丰富他们的研究经验。 作为博士论文研究改进奖，该奖项将为有前途的学生建立强大的独立研究生涯提供支持。在欧洲联盟之后的一个世纪中，五大湖上游的近北方森林经历了深刻的成分、结构和功能变化。 -美国定居点。 红松在该地区历史上的主导地位代表了火灾对景观的影响，然而，20 世纪的土地利用改造通常排除了整个景观的火灾，减少了恢复力物种的优势，并可能增加该地区森林对未来环境的敏感性。改变。 该奖项支持的研究将集中于三个核心问题：（1）是否有足够数量的闪电火灾来维持五大湖上游地区的红松林？ (2) 如果没有 20 世纪的景观改造，现代景观的组成和结构会有何不同？ (3) 环境变化将如何影响未来的火灾状况和随后的植被格局？ 博士生将使用景观扰动和演替模型 LANDIS-II 来模拟森林组成和结构变化。 将模拟四种情景，时间范围从人类定居前的时间到公元 2300 年，以模拟森林变化以响应不同的火灾、气候和土地情景。