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domingo, 29 de septiembre de 2013

nsf.gov National Science Foundation - National Science Foundation awards $19.4 million for research on coupled natural and human systems

Studies will lead to new understanding of how humans and the environment interact.-
Photo of northern forests in New England.
NSF CNH scientists will look at the ecosystem resilience of northern forests in New England.
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September 25, 2013
How and why is tea quality vulnerable to changing climate conditions, and how do these changes affect farming communities and land-use strategies?
Researchers funded by the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Dynamics of Coupled Natural and Human Systems (CNH) program will use tea production and consumption systems as a case study to explore the complex interactions among human and natural systems.
They will look at how links among tea agroecosystems, markets and farmers are affected by increased climate variability and resulting socioecological feedbacks.
The project is one of 21 funded this year by NSF's CNH program, which addresses how humans and the environment interact. Total funding for the 2013 awards is $19.4 million.
NSF's Directorates for Biological Sciences; Geosciences; and Social, Behavioral & Economic Sciences support research conducted through the CNH program. CNH is part of NSF's Science, Engineering and Education for Sustainability investment.
"An important application of advancing the understanding of natural and human systems is improving our ability to predict the environmental and social consequences of alternative policies for resource use, and our chances of choosing wisely for the future," says Peter Alpert, CNH program director in the Directorate for Biological Sciences.
"This year's CNH awards look into the past, across the present and into some of our most productive agricultural systems to make these scientific advances."
Research funded by CNH awards will provide a better understanding of natural processes and cycles and of human behavior and decisions--and how and where they intersect.
New CNH awardees will conduct research on such subjects as an ecological trap for parasites and the parasites' effects on human disease risk, balancing water needs and water uses for humans and nature, and building a socioecological understanding of tropical reforestation.
Also being studied are pastoralism in transition: linking localized interactions and system behavior to evaluate socio-ecological vulnerability, water availability and arid land management, and coupling burning practices, vegetation cover change and fire regimes to determine fire-emission dynamics.
Grantees will look at subjects as diverse as disturbance interactions and ecosystem resilience in the northern forests of New England, the effects of China's Grain-for-Green Program in rural China and a socio-ecological analysis of nitrogen in agricultural systems of the Upper Midwest.
"This year's CNH awards examine the way in which people deal with natural environmental processes in a broad range of settings, including cities, agricultural regions, arid lands and forests," says Tom Baerwald, CNH program director in NSF's Directorate for Social, Behavioral & Economic Sciences.
"Findings from these projects will enhance our understanding of, and increase our capabilities to improve, environmental quality and the well-being of people."
CNH scientists are asking questions such as: how are land-use policies, agricultural intensification, habitat fragmentation and socio-ecological resilience linked in a tropical biological corridor?
And how can the United States better plan for more sustainable agriculture and development of towns and cities by learning from the ancient land-use histories of Neolithic sites in Spain and Italy?
"In CNH, we consider humans and our environment as one interconnected system," says Sarah Ruth, program director in NSF's Directorate for Geosciences.
"Each of these new projects brings together teams of researchers from across the social and natural sciences to help us better understand how this complex system functions, and ultimately, how we may best manage our finite environmental resources."
2013 Dynamics of Coupled Natural and Human Systems (CNH) Awards
Brian Allan, University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign,
Heidi Asbjornsen, University of New Hampshire,
Ana Barros, Duke University,
C. Michael Barton, Arizona State University,
Michael Blum, Tulane University,
Aram Calhoun, University of Maine,
Arianne Cease, Arizona State University,
Robin Chazdon, University of Connecticut;
Jiquan Chen, University of Toledo,
Melinda Daniels, Kansas State University,
Jennifer Dunne, Santa Fe Institute,
Paul Evangelista, Colorado State University,
Elizabeth King, University of Georgia,
Kimberly Kirner, California State University-Northridge,
Paul Laris, California State University-Long Beach,
Colin Orians, Tufts University,
Judith Perlinger, Michigan Technological University,
Erin Simons-Legaard, University of Maine,
Conghe Song, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill,
Diana Stuart, Michigan State University,
Lisette Waits, University of Idaho,
-NSF-
Media Contacts Cheryl Dybas, NSF (703) 292-7734 cdybas@nsf.gov
Related WebsitesNSF Discovery Article: Cooking Up Clean Air in Africa:
 http://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/disc_summ.jsp?cntn_id=126403&org=NSF
NSF Discovery Article: Studying Nature's Rhythms: Soundscape Ecologists Spawn New Field:
 http://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/disc_summ.jsp?cntn_id=123046&org=NSF
NSF News Release: New Understanding of How Humans and the Environment Interact:
 http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=121734
NSF News: National Science Foundation Awards Grants for Research on Coupled Natural and Human Systems:
http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=125578
NSF Publication: Discoveries in Sustainability Science:
 http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2012/disco12001/disco12001.pdf
NSF News: Human Disease Leptospirosis Identified in New Species, the Banded Mongoose, in Africa: http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=127914
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering. In fiscal year (FY) 2012, its budget was $7.0 billion. NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to nearly 2,000 colleges, universities and other institutions. Each year, NSF receives about 50,000 competitive requests for funding, and makes about 11,500 new funding awards. NSF also awards about $593 million in professional and service contracts yearly.
Useful NSF Web Sites:
NSF Home Page:
 http://www.nsf.gov
NSF News:
http://www.nsf.gov/news/
For the News Media:
http://www.nsf.gov/news/newsroom.jsp
Science and Engineering Statistics:
 The National Science Foundation (NSF)
Photo of a tea plantation
CNH grantees will study climate effects on tea plantations.
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The U.S. Upper Midwest is the subject of a CNH grant to research nitrogen in agricultural systems.
The U.S. Upper Midwest is the subject of a CNH grant to research nitrogen in agricultural systems.
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Photo of highlands of Ethiopia
Assessing the vulnerability of provisioning services in the highlands of Ethiopia is a CNH project.
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Photo of plain field in Kansas
CNH researchers will study water supply and water quality on the often-dry U.S. Great Plains.
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Photo of tropical forest
Building a socioecological understanding of tropical reforestation is the focus of a CNH award.
Credit and Larger Version
The National Science Foundation (NSF)
Guillermo Gonzalo Sánchez Achutegui

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miércoles, 18 de julio de 2012

Agriculture: Scientists Develop New Carbon Accounting Method to Reduce Farmers' Use of Nitrogen Fertilizer

Hi My Friends: A VUELO DE UN QUINDE EL BLOG., t's summer. For many of us, summer is a time synonymous with fresh corn, one of the major field crops produced in the United States.

Agricultural crops are studied in experiments at NSF's Kellogg Biological Station LTER site.

Credit: Julie Doll, NSF KBS LTER Site

Download the high-resolution JPG version of the image. (4.3 MB)

Dawn breaks over fields, some fertilized, some not, at the KBS site.

Credit: Julie Doll, NSF KBS LTER Site

Download the high-resolution JPG version of the image. (7.2 MB)
Where does nitrogen fertilizer go? Studies of crops hold answers.

Credit: Julie Doll, NSF KBS LTER Site

Download the high-resolution JPG version of the image. (2.8 MB)

 Scientists Develop New Carbon Accounting Method to Reduce Farmers' Use of Nitrogen Fertilizer

Large amounts of nitrogen fertilizer lead to nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas, in the atmosphere
It's summer. For many of us, summer is a time synonymous with fresh corn, one of the major field crops produced in the United States.
In 2011, corn was planted on more than 92 million acres in the U.S., helping the nation continue its trend as the world's largest exporter of the crop.
Corn is a nitrogen-loving plant. To achieve desired production levels, most U.S. farmers apply synthetic nitrogen fertilizer to their fields every year.
Once nitrogen fertilizer hits the ground, however, it's hard to contain and is easily lost to groundwater, rivers, oceans and the atmosphere.
"That's not good for the crops, the farmers or the environment," says Phil Robertson, a scientist at Michigan State University and principal investigator at the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Kellogg Biological Station (KBS) Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) site.
KBS is one of 26 such NSF LTER sites across the United States and around the globe in ecosystems from forests to coral reefs.
Nitrogen lost to the environment from agricultural fields is nitrogen not used by crops, Robertson says. "This costs farmers money and degrades water and air quality, with significant health, biodiversity and downstream economic effects."
Farmers already manage fertilizer to avoid large losses. But, to reduce losses further, it currently costs more money than the fertilizer saves.
Robertson and colleagues are working on a way to help make the time and expense of efforts to mitigate fertilizer loss worthwhile. They're putting the finishing touches on a program that would pay farmers to apply less nitrogen fertilizer in a way that doesn't jeopardize yields. The program, called the nitrous oxide greenhouse gas reduction methodology, is being conducted in partnership with the Electric Power Research Institute.
"This project is a great example of how long-term, fundamental research can contribute practical solutions to important environmental problems of concern in the U.S.--and ultimately around the world," says Matt Kane, an NSF program director for LTER.
In the United States, agriculture accounts for almost 70 percent of all nitrous oxide emissions linked with human activity. Nitrous oxide is one of the major gases contributing to human-induced climate change; it has a lifetime in the atmosphere of more than 100 years. In addition, a molecule of nitrous oxide has more than 300 times the heat-trapping effect in the atmosphere as a molecule of carbon dioxide.
In soils, the production of nitrous oxide through microbial activity is a natural process. By applying large amounts of fertilizer, however, humans have greatly increased the amount of nitrous oxide in soils. This is particularly true when nitrogen fertilizer is added in larger amounts than the crop needs, and when it is applied at times or in ways that make it difficult for the crop to get the full benefit.
"Improving the efficiency of nitrogen use for field crop agriculture holds great promise for helping mitigate climate change," Robertson says.
The nitrous oxide greenhouse gas reduction methodology, which is a way for farmers to participate in existing and emerging carbon markets, recently was approved by the American Carbon Registry and is in its final stages of validation by the Verified Carbon Standard--two carbon market standards that operate worldwide.
When farmers reduce their nitrogen fertilizer use, they can use the methodology as a means of generating carbon credits. These credits can be traded in carbon markets for financial payments.
The scientific underpinning for the methodology rests on decades of research Robertson and colleagues have conducted at the KBS LTER site.
"By closely following nitrous oxide, crop yields and other ecosystem responses to fertilizers," Robertson says, "we discovered that nitrous oxide emissions increase exponentially and consistently with increasing nitrogen fertilizer use."
The idea of the methodology is to offer ways of using less fertilizer to produce crops. But if farmers apply less fertilizer, will their crop production take a hit?
"Carbon credits provide an incentive to apply fertilizer more precisely, not to reduce yields," says Robertson. "If yields were reduced significantly, the climate effect would be nil because a farmer somewhere else would have to use more nitrogen to make up the yield loss, thereby generating more nitrous oxide."
The new methodology developed at NSF's KBS LTER site was successfully used by a Michigan farmer in Tuscola County as part of a proof-of-concept project.
"A major value of the approach is that it is straightforward to understand and implement," says KBS LTER scientist Neville Millar, who co-led development of the methodology.
In addition to providing an economic incentive, the methodology is a tool farmers can apply to enhance their land stewardship.
"The same strategies that farmers can use to minimize nitrous oxide loss will act to reduce the loss of nitrate to groundwater and loss of other forms of nitrogen to the atmosphere," says Millar.
Adam Diamant, technical executive at the Electric Power Research Institute and a co-developer of the methodology, says the new approach resulted in a "quadruple win: for farmers, for industrial organizations that may be required to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, for the atmosphere and for water quality from the upper Midwest all the way to the Gulf of Mexico."
Adds Robertson: "We're in uncharted territory with a growing global human population and unprecedented environmental change.
"Performing the research that links environmental benefits to environmental markets, without compromising crop yields, is crucial for feeding more people while sustaining Earth's ecosystems."
-NSF-
Media Contacts Cheryl Dybas, NSF (703) 292-7734 cdybas@nsf.gov
Related WebsitesNSF LTER Network: http://www.lternet.edu
NSF Kellogg Biological Station LTER Site: http://lter.kbs.msu.edu/
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering. In fiscal year (FY) 2012, its budget is $7.0 billion. NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to nearly 2,000 colleges, universities and other institutions. Each year, NSF receives over 50,000 competitive requests for funding, and makes about 11,000 new funding awards. NSF also awards nearly $420 million in professional and service contracts yearly.
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Useful NSF Web Sites:
NSF Home Page: http://www.nsf.gov
NSF News: http://www.nsf.gov/news/
For the News Media: http://www.nsf.gov/news/newsroom.jsp
Science and Engineering Statistics: http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/
Awards Searches: http://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/
Guillermo Gonzalo Sánchez Achutegui
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