Developing a Terrestrial Biogeochemical Cycle Modeling System to Support the Management of Fort Benning and its Surrounding Areas

Abstract : Military training activities can severely impact ecosystem structures, functions, health, and sustainability, which are intrinsically linked to ecosystem carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycles. Information on the impacts from military training activities on biogeochemical cycles is urgently needed for installation managers to minimize their adverse impacts on ecosystem services and sustainability. Well-designed biogeochemical models can provide valuable quantitative information on the impacts of land use and climate variability on many ecosystem processes including the C and N cycles. Land and range managers at military installations need such information to strategically plan installation expansion and schedule training operations to prevent adverse environmental impacts from training. This project, "Developing a Spatially Distributed Terrestrial Biogeochemical Cycle Modeling System to Support the Management of Fort Benning and its Surrounding Areas", focuses on the development of a new biogeochemical modeling system. The overarching goal of this project is to develop an advanced, spatially distributed biogeochemical cycle modeling system to simulate the dynamics of ecosystem C and N cycles under historical, current, and future land use and disturbances scenarios. The modeling system and simulated results will be used to facilitate the evaluation of the environmental consequences of various training activities and, therefore, to support future land use and training operations.