CAREER: The Boston-Area Climate Experiment

University Of Massachusetts Boston, Dorchester MA

Investigators

Abstract

Scientists agree that Earths climate is changing. However, there remains uncertainty about the rate at which temperatures will rise, how precipitation will change, and for how long the warming will continue. To date, several experiments have advanced our understanding of how ecosystems will respond to changes in temperature or precipitation, but few have studied both factors simultaneously. In addition, almost all experiments that have warmed ecosystems have examined the effect of one sudden and sustained temperature increase. In reality, climate will change gradually, and the endpoint of this change is unknown. Will the processes and properties of communities and ecosystems respond linearly to changes in temperature, or are there important threshold temperatures that could be reached? To what extent does an ecosystems response to warming depend on precipitation patterns? The Boston-Area Climate Experiment is designed to answer these questions. The experiment will warm plots of an old-field ecosystem by five different amounts, while subjecting the plots to three different precipitation regimes (wet, ambient, and dry). Researchers will measure responses of several variables, including growth of herbs, grasses, and tree seedlings. This experiment will improve our understanding of how ecosystems and the services they provide will respond to climate change. Some of these ecosystem responses will determine how the planets biota will affect the rate of climate change. The experiment will also have a broad community impact, both directly, as a public education installation, and by involving K-12 students and teachers, student educators, and university students.