niwot ridge-green lakes valley lter niwot ridge-green lakes valley lter site matt miller...
TRANSCRIPT
Niwot Ridge-Green Lakes Valley LTER Niwot Ridge-Green Lakes Valley LTER Site
Matt Miller
OutlineOutline
Background information on Long Term Ecological Research (LTER)
Background on Niwot Ridge LTER (NWTLTER) site
Monitoring data collected at Niwot Ridge in relation to biome characteristics
Example of research in the Green Lakes Valley Pictures Note: Most information taken directly from LTER
and NWTLTER web sites
Long Term Ecological Long Term Ecological Research (LTER)Research (LTER)
24 Sites including Antarctica, Puerto Rico, and the United States
Established in 1980 by the National Science Foundation (NSF)
Network of over 1000 scientists
http://lternet.edu/
Mission of LTER NetworkMission of LTER Network
Understanding ecological phenomena over long temporal and large spatial scales
Creating a legacy of well-designed and documented long-term experiments and observations for future generations
Conducting major synthetic and theoretical efforts
Providing information for the identification and solution of ecological problems
Niwot Ridge LTER SiteNiwot Ridge LTER Site
Approximately 25 miles west of Boulder Alpine tundra environment (biome) Includes the Green Lakes Valley http://culter.colorado.edu Research topics
– Meteorology/Climatology– Hydrology– Biogeochemistry– Biology
Niwot Ridge
Continental Divide
Green Lakes Valley
Defining Characteristics of Defining Characteristics of BiomesBiomes
SoilClimateGeographyBiologyHuman Influences
Soil
Climate Geography
Biology
Human Influences
Not only do these variables determine the biome in a given area, but each variable has an effect on all other variable. Therefore, it is hard to study one variable without considering the others
Meteorology/ClimatologyMeteorology/Climatology
Air TemperaturePrecipitationRelative HumidityWind Speed/DirectionSolar Radiation
HydrologyHydrology
Stream DischargeSnowpack Ablation
– Loss of snow pack
Snow Water Equivalent– Water content obtained from melting a defined
sample of snow
Soil Moisture
BiogeochemistryBiogeochemistry
Definition (unofficial): The study of how biology, chemistry, and geology effect element cycles in nature
Snowpack ChemistrySurface Water QualityAtmospheric N loadingMicrobial Respiration
BiologyBiology
Plant Species Composition (terrestrial and aquatic)
Small Mammal Herbivore StudiesFossil Insect AssemblagesSoil Microarthropod DensitiesAbove Ground Phytomass
Example: Tracing Carbon Example: Tracing Carbon Flow Through a SystemFlow Through a System
Carbon is essential to all life!Where does Carbon come from?How does Carbon change forms?If the Carbon is in water we need to
understand how the water moves (hydrology).
Biological pathways of Carbon Biological pathways of Carbon TransformationTransformation
Respiration
C6H12O6 + 6O2 6CO2 + 6H2OPhotosynthesis
6CO2 + 6H2O C6H12O6 + 6O2
Where Does Carbon Come Where Does Carbon Come From/How Does it Change From/How Does it Change
Forms?Forms?Burning of Fossil FuelsBreakdown of Organic Matter (Respiration)Atmosphere (Photosynthesis)HerbivoryPredation
Human Impact?Human Impact?
Sources of Carbon to Aquatic Sources of Carbon to Aquatic SystemsSystems
Autochthonous– Carbon synthesized within the lake or stream
Allochthonous– Carbon synthesized within the drainage basin
and brought to the stream
Tracing Carbon through Tracing Carbon through Aquatic SystemsAquatic Systems
Once in the stream what happens to the Carbon?
If looking at Carbon in aquatic systems it is necessary to understand the hydrology of those systems
As Carbon moves As Carbon moves downstream how is it downstream how is it
transformed?transformed? Decomposition of Organic Matter (respiration) Uptake and incorporation into organic matter Excretion Change in Trophic Levels (predation) Change in Oxidation State/Chemical Structure
(abiotic or biotic) Main Point: What you see downstream is a
product of what is happening upstream
Areas of flow in a streamAreas of flow in a stream
In a stream system there are two main areas where water flows– The Main Stream Channel– The Hyporheic Zone
“The Saturated interstitial areas beneath the streambed and into the stream banks that contain channel water to the depth to which overlying stream water actively infiltrates by advection”
– Wetzel, 2001
How Do we Trace the Flow How Do we Trace the Flow Paths?Paths?
Tracer Experiments– Add a non-reactive (i.e. salt) or reactive (i.e.
organic matter) to a stream– Measure concentrations of the tracer at points
downstream in the main stream channel as well as in the hyporheic zone
Take Home MessagesTake Home Messages
Long term data collection is essential to understanding ecological processes and human impact (e.g. CO2 data).
Communication between researchers studying various aspects of any given system is essential (e.g. C flow and respiration).
Need to consider all possible effects on a system (e.g. atmospheric N deposition in restricted watershed).
