Collaborative Research: Lightning-caused disturbance and patterns of recovery in tropical forests

合作研究：闪电引起的热带森林干扰和恢复模式

• 批准号: 2213246
• 负责人: Stephen Yanoviak
• 金额: $ 35.91万
• 依托单位: University of Louisville Research Foundation Inc
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-08-01 至 2025-07-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2213246&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Lightning; caused; disturbance

Tropical forests garner attention because they are home to exceptionally high levels of biodiveristy, and are dominant contributors to the global carbon budget. Ongoing changes in patterns of tree death in the tropics are endangering this biodiversity, and decreasing the ability of forests to accumulate carbon. This, in turn, will have an impact on global climate change. Recent work by this team has revealed that lightning could be one of the major factors disrupting tropical forests. This new phase of research will ask: how consistent are the effects of lightning strikes among forests, and how do they recover from the effects of damage by lightning? This project will quantify the short- and long-term effects of lightning among tropical forests through advances in ecology, atmospheric physics, and ecosystem science. Results of this study will examine the importance of lightning to tropical forests and, more broadly, its effects on carbon cycling, and the impact that has on global climate trends. The broader impacts of this research will train a postdoctoral researcher and offer international research experiences to undergraduate and graduate students. The project will also produce exhibits at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, and at the airport and central bus terminal in Panama, to engage the public in the scientific process. Online, virtual tours of lightning strikes will be developed, and virtual resources will make professional development training available for underrepresented students to pursue graduate education. Tropical rainforests are the world's best classroom for studying biodiversity and ecosystem processes, and this project provides outstanding opportunities for students to gain valuable educational experiences in-person, via exhibits, and through online activities. The principal goal of this study is to quantify the contributions of lightning strikes to tropical forest turnover and successional dynamics. The central hypothesis is that lightning strikes reduce forest carbon storage via their direct contributions to tree mortality and indirect effects on post-disturbance forest recovery. We will combine expertise in forest ecology, lightning physics, and remote sensing to address three core questions: (1) Does lightning trigger an alternative pathway of forest regeneration relative to windthrow?; (2) How do lightning disturbance characteristics vary with forest age and tree species composition?; and (3) How do lightning strikes regulate regional differences in forest structure and carbon dynamics? This project builds on recent results by this team of researchers, showing that the effects of lightning on tropical forest turnover have been grossly underestimated. Those findings were made by studying a single lowland forest. Broadly understanding the role of lightning in tropical forests requires applying this approach to a range of forest types. An advanced lightning location system will be developed to systematically quantify the effects of ca. 40,000 annual lightning strikes across ca. 8,000 km2 of tropical forest that encompass variation in composition, size structure, and age. A chronosequence approach will be used to determine how lightning influences tree community assembly and biomass accumulation during post-disturbance regeneration. Quantifying these cross-scale effects will help in the management tropical forests and the future of our planet. The outcomes of this work are expected to substantially improve scientific understanding of tropical forest ecosystems.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

热带森林引起了人们的关注，因为它们是异常高水平的生物视线，并且是全球碳预算的主要贡献者。热带树木死亡模式的持续变化正在危害这种生物多样性，并降低了森林积累碳的能力。反过来，这将对全球气候变化产生影响。该团队最近的工作表明，闪电可能是破坏热带森林的主要因素之一。这一新的研究阶段会问：森林之间雷击的影响有多一致，它们如何从闪电造成的损害影响中恢复过来？该项目将通过生态学，大气物理学和生态系统科学的进步来量化热带森林中闪电的短期和长期影响。这项研究的结果将研究闪电对热带森林的重要性，更广泛地，其对碳循环的影响以及对全球气候趋势的影响。这项研究的更广泛影响将培训博士后研究人员，并为本科生和研究生提供国际研究经验。该项目还将在史密森尼国家自然历史博物馆以及巴拿马的机场和中央巴士航站楼上进行展览，以参与科学过程。在线，将开发闪电袭击的虚拟游览，虚拟资源将使专业发展培训可供代表性不足的学生进行研究生教育。热带雨林是研究生物多样性和生态系统过程的世界上最好的教室，该项目为学生提供了出色的机会，可以通过展览和在线活动获得宝贵的教育经验。这项研究的主要目的是量化雷击对热带森林转换和继任动态的贡献。中心假设是，雷击通过直接贡献了树木死亡率和间接影响陷入后扰动森林恢复的影响，从而减少了森林碳的储存。我们将在森林生态学，闪电物理学和遥感方面结合专业知识，以解决三个核心问题：（1）相对于Windthrow，闪电会触发森林再生的替代途径吗？ （2）闪电干扰特征如何随森林年龄和树种的成分而变化？ （3）雷击如何调节森林结构和碳动态的区域差异？该项目以这支研究人员的最新结果为基础，表明闪电对热带森林转移的影响已被严重低估。这些发现是通过研究一个低地森林来做出的。广泛地了解闪电在热带森林中的作用需要将这种方法应用于各种森林类型。将开发出高级闪电位置系统，以系统地量化CA的影响。大约有40,000次年度雷击。 8,000 km2的热带森林，包括组成，大小结构和年龄的变化。将使用Chronosequence方法来确定闪电如何影响树木社区的组装和生物量在后触及再生过程中的积累。量化这些跨尺度效果将有助于管理热带森林和我们地球的未来。预计这项工作的结果将大大提高对热带森林生态系统的科学理解。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并认为使用基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的影响审查标准，认为值得通过评估来获得支持。