LTREB Renewal: Nutrients and climate as drivers of carbon sequestration and ecosystem metabolism in a nitrogen-enriched, shallow coastal ecosystem

LTREB 更新：养分和气候作为富氮浅海生态系统中碳固存和生态系统代谢的驱动因素

• 批准号: 2311106
• 负责人: Robert Howarth
• 金额: $ 59.97万
• 依托单位: Marine Biological Laboratory
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-08-01 至 2028-07-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2311106&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: LTREB; Renewal; Nutrients; climate; drivers

Seagrasses provide critical habitat for many species, help maintain water quality by filtering nutrients, and store substantial quantities of carbon. In many coastal waters, seagrasses are being lost at an accelerating rate, with nutrient pollution being a major cause. This project examines the interaction of nutrient pollution with climate change on the ecology of a coastal harbor on Cape Cod, Massachusetts with extensive seagrass beds. The project studies how the seagrasses store carbon and remove nutrients in coastal marine environments, thereby reducing environmental degradation. The harbor has received high inputs of nitrogen for the past 20 years from groundwater contaminated by nearby municipal wastewater treatment. The nitrogen load to the harbor is expected to decrease over the coming years due to improved wastewater management. The project therefore measures how a seagrass-dominated ecosystem recovers from pollution. The project educates 10 to 15 undergraduate students each year who are conducting research projects. The project also shares data with the Buzzards Bay Coalition, the Town of Falmouth, and the Buzzards Bay National Estuary Program. This research informs efforts to better protect and restore seagrass habitat and water quality. This project is the second five years of a planned ten-year study that continues a set of measurements made since 2005. These measurements include: nitrogen loading; rates of primary production, ecosystem respiration, and net ecosystem production; concentrations of carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, and chlorophyll in sediments, porewaters, and water column; seagrass extent and carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus content; and exchanges of nitrogen and phosphorus with the coastal ocean. The long-term data set provided by this project is the only one globally for a nitrogen-polluted, shallow seagrass-dominated ecosystem. These data allow exploration of several fundamental questions, including whether nitrogen or phosphorus is more limiting in these types of ecosystems. Further, the project examines how climate-driven changes in ocean circulation may be altering sources of nitrogen and phosphorus. Ultimately, the research demonstrates how climate and nutrients interact to regulate the storage of organic carbon in seagrass-dominated ecosystems in the temperate zone.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.

海草为许多物种提供关键的栖息地，通过过滤营养来帮助维持水质，并存储大量碳。在许多沿海水域中，海草正在以加速速度损失，营养污染是主要原因。该项目研究了养分污染与气候变化在马萨诸塞州科德角的沿海港口的生态变化的相互作用，并具有广泛的海草床。该项目研究海草如何在沿海海洋环境中储存碳并清除养分，从而减少环境降解。 在过去的20年中，该港口已受到附近的市政废水处理污染的地下水的高投入。由于废水管理的改善，预计在未来几年内，港口的氮负荷将减少。因此，该项目衡量了以海草为主的生态系统从污染中恢复的方式。该项目每年对正在进行研究项目的10至15名本科生进行教育。该项目还与Buzzards Bay联盟，法尔茅斯镇和Buzzards Bay国家河口计划共享数据。这项研究为更好地保护和恢复海草栖息地和水质的努力提供了努力。该项目是一项计划的十年研究的第二五年，该研究延续了2005年以来进行的一组测量。这些测量包括：氮气负荷；初级生产，生态系统呼吸和净生态系统生产的速度；沉积物，毛孔和水柱中碳，氧，氮，磷，硫和叶绿素的浓度；海草范围和碳，氮和磷含量；以及氮和磷与沿海海洋的交换。 该项目提供的长期数据集是全球唯一的氮污染，浅海草主导的生态系统的数据集。这些数据允许探索几个基本问​​题，包括在这些类型的生态系统中氮或磷是否更限制。此外，该项目研究了海洋循环中气候驱动的变化如何改变氮和磷的来源。最终，该研究表明了气候和营养如何相互作用，以调节有机碳在温带区域中以海草为主的生态系统中的存储。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并被认为是通过基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的审查标准来通过评估来进行评估的。