Collaborative Research: Convergence and Contingencies in Savanna Grasslands

合作研究：稀树草原的趋同与偶发事件

• 批准号: 0516145
• 负责人: Melinda Smith
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Yale University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2005
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2005-09-15 至 2008-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0516145&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Convergence; Contingencies; Savanna

Grasslands and savannas occupy almost 40% of the earth's land surface, are economically important as grazing lands, and are highly impacted by human activities. They also have tremendous conservation value, housing the world's remaining large grazing animals, particularly in Africa. A fundamental understanding of the factors most important for sustaining savanna grasslands, fire and grazing, is required for their management and conservation. Yet scientists have questioned whether grasslands in different regions function similarly. Convergence in function would mean that ecological understanding and conservation strategies could be generalized worldwide. But contingent factors specific to a region, such as differences in history or the types of grazers present may lead to unique responses in some savanna grasslands. The goal of this research is to compare key ecological processes to fire and grazing in savanna grasslands in North America and South Africa. Scientists will take advantage of three ongoing long-term experiments that manipulate these key factors and compare responses in productivity, biodiversity, and nutrient cycling. As humans alter fire and grazing regimes worldwide, comparative research elucidating the consequences is needed to develop management strategies that can insure the sustainability of savanna grasslands. This research will provide the basic knowledge necessary to do so, and will afford training and important global and cultural experiences for young scientists, graduate students, and undergraduate students.

草原和稀树草原占地近40％的地球地面，在经济上作为放牧土地很重要，并且受到人类活动的影响很大。它们也具有巨大的保护价值，可以容纳世界上剩下的大放牧动物，尤其是在非洲。对维持稀树草原草原，火灾和放牧最重要的因素是其管理和保护所必需的基本理解。然而，科学家质疑不同地区的草原是否相似。功能的融合意味着生态理解和保护策略可以在全球范围内广泛化。但是，特定地区的特定因素（例如历史差异或出现的放牧者类型）可能会导致某些稀树草原草原的独特反应。这项研究的目的是比较在北美和南非的Savanna Grasslands开火和放牧的关键生态过程。科学家将利用三个正在进行的长期实验来操纵这些关键因素，并比较生产力，生物多样性和营养循环中的反应。随着人类在全球范围内改变火灾和放牧的政权，需要阐明后果的比较研究，以制定可以确保Savanna Grasslands可持续性的管理策略。这项研究将为这样做提供必要的基本知识，并为年轻科学家，研究生和本科生提供培训和重要的全球和文化经验。