| NSF Org: |
DEB Division Of Environmental Biology |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | January 20, 2015 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | February 16, 2016 |
| Award Number: | 1440485 |
| Award Instrument: | Continuing Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Douglas Levey
DEB Division Of Environmental Biology BIO Directorate for Biological Sciences |
| Start Date: | February 1, 2015 |
| End Date: | January 31, 2018 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $2,560,000.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $2,593,333.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
FY 2016 = $1,280,000.00 |
| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
310 E CAMPUS RD RM 409 ATHENS GA US 30602-1589 (706)542-5939 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
3160 Coweeta Lab Road Otto NC US 28763-9218 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | LONG TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH |
| Primary Program Source: |
01001617DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT |
| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.074 |
ABSTRACT
The southern Appalachian Mountains are a biodiversity hotspot undergoing rapid development. They harbor unique species and assemblages, and are the source of freshwater as well as a recreational destination for human populations in nearby metropolitan areas. The total rural and urban population of the southern Appalachian region is expected to continue growing at double-digit rates for the foreseeable future, accompanied by conversion of forested land to developed areas. Forests such as those in southern Appalachia have developed under moisture-rich climates, and may be particularly susceptible to the increased droughts predicted as human demand for water increases and as climate changes. This long-term research addresses the complexity of organismal responses to increasing variability in moisture regimes, linking results of basic research to their practical implications. The Coweeta Listening Project and the Coweeta Scholyard Program translate and communicate community-relevant research results to engage society with science in the southern Appalachian Mountains. Educational activities include field-based environmental education and in-classroom support for middle school teachers and students, as well as outreach programs to land owners on the importance of riparian corridor integrity.
This project will continue to examine how hydroclimate variability and the human-modified landscape separately and interactively alter southern Appalachian Mountain ecosystem processes and biotic communities that, in turn, affect the vulnerabilities of regional socio-ecological systems. The research builds on long-term studies across numerous permanent plots within and beyond the Coweeta Basin that include over 20 years of tree demographic data representing more than 350,000 tree-years. Performance and abundance of a suite of herbaceous, invertebrate, and vertebrate species will be measured within and beyond the Coweeta Basin. A large-scale experiment will be used to assess the post-rhododendron removal rates of recovery for vegetation dynamics, soil microbial communities, soil extracellular enzyme activity, and nutrient pools and fluxes. Treatments will examine processes at the interface between terrestrial and stream ecosystems based on intensive plot-scale and extensive reach-scale measurements. Modeling of past and present hydroclimate variability will be used to establish ecosystem function and risks from local to regional geographies. Understanding the relationships between ecosystems, organisms, and their responses to the forces of hydroclimate variability and human activities on the land are essential if ecological science is to anticipate, respond to, and mitigate these changes and the associated vulnerabilities.
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
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PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
Southern Appalachian forests are highly productive ecosystems that are globally rich in biodiversity. While they evolved through the interaction of a wet climate and a mountainous topography, these forest ecosystems are now linked to human systems across the region at multiple levels. The major goal of the project was to understand how variation in the climate-determined water cycle and the landscape as modified by human activities have and continue to alter regional ecosystem processes and biotic communities. The research adhered to the five core research themes of LTER science while building on long-term studies and monitoring activities within and beyond the Coweeta Basin of North Carolina.
The intellectual merit of this project was to advance knowledge reflecting the disciplinary diversity of nearly 30 investigators and the undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral students who worked with them. While the principal discipline was ecology, participants in the research included foresters, biologists, economists, engineers, hydrologists, geographers, and anthropologists. Between 2014-2017, participants in the Coweeta LTER research published 27 peer-reviewed articles, 3 peer-reviewed books, and 21 chapters in peer-reviewed books. Their students successfully defended 19 dissertations and/or theses, and researchers and their students delivered 32 presentations at national and international meetings.
The broader impact of this project benefitted society and achieved desirable societal outcomes in a variety of ways, but most singularly through the activities of the Coweeta LTER Schoolyard Program. Each year the Coweeta LTER Schoolyard program organized multiple educational and translation events benefitting K-12 students and their teachers from schools across north Georgia, western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee. Between 2014-2017, a total of 4,741 3rd to 8th grade students were served in a total of 59 organized events that drew directly on the science outcomes of the research. An additional 6,154 middle school students were served by using the Coweeta LTER Science Boxes. These study boxes supported the efforts of the teachers in Northeast Georgia and Western North Carolina by providing hands-on learning experiences for students in five areas. The boxes were designed to satisfy state educational accreditation requirements while encouraging student enthusiasm in science, math and technology.
Last Modified: 04/30/2018
Modified by: Theodore L Gragson
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