Collaborative Research: Effects of Land-Use Change on the Production of Ecosystem Services in Páramo Grasslands

合作研究：帕拉莫草原土地利用变化对生态系统服务产生的影响

• 批准号: 0851532
• 负责人: Kathleen Farley
• 金额: $ 15.5万
• 依托单位: San Diego State University Foundation
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-05-01 至 2013-04-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0851532&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Effects; Land; Use

Growing interest in terrestrial carbon sequestration and increasing demand for water and hydropower have focused international and regional attention on ecosystem services. This project examines those services provided by the high altitude páramo grasslands of the northern Andes. The concept of Payment for Ecosystem Services is being implemented in Ecuador, leading to tree planting in páramo grasslands to sequester carbon and alteration of traditional burning and grazing regimes to enhance water resources. However, the biophysical outcomes of these and related changes in land use and management are poorly understood, and in some cases well-intended changes may not be producing the desired outcomes. In this project, the researchers will systematically investigate the effects of land use change on the production of soil-related ecosystem services, quantify potential tradeoffs among ecosystem services, and evaluate policy implications of different land management strategies. The primary objectives are 1) to determine how land use change affects carbon storage, water storage, and water transmission in Andean páramo soils and 2) to evaluate which land uses maximize ecosystem services related to both carbon and water in páramo grassland soils. The researchers will integrate field observations and in situ experiments at two páramo study sites, Zuleta (northern Ecuador) and the Nudo del Azuay (southern Ecuador), with laboratory analyses of soil samples, and assessment of synergies, trade-offs, and relevant policies to quantify and predict effects of land use change on carbon- and water-related ecosystem services. This research will provide essential data for predicting ecosystem responses to land use change and will have immediate societal application by improving the scientific basis for Payment for Ecosystem Services programs. The results will provide key data for conservation organizations on the appropriateness of forestation as a form of land restoration in the study region, and will inform policies and programs intended to enhance both terrestrial carbon sequestration and water provision in the Ecuadorian Andes. The research also will provide educational opportunities for several graduate students and a middle-school science teacher from the U.S. and for participating undergraduate students at the University of Azuay in Ecuador, and it will strengthen the collaboration between the investigators and their Ecuadorian partners.

对陆地碳固存的兴趣日益浓厚，对水和水电的需求不断增加，国际和区域的注意力集中在生态系统服务上。该项目研究了安第斯山脉北部高海拔帕拉莫草原提供的服务。生态系统服务付费的概念正在实施。在厄瓜多尔，导致在帕拉莫草原植树以固碳，并改变传统的燃烧和放牧制度以增加水资源。人们对土壤管理的了解知之甚少，在某些情况下，善意的改变可能不会产生预期的结果。在这个项目中，研究人员最终将调查土地利用变化对土壤相关生态系统服务生产的影响，量化之间的潜在权衡。生态系统服务，并评估不同土地管理策略的政策影响，主要目标是 1) 确定土地利用变化如何影响安第斯帕拉莫土壤中的碳储存、水储存和水传输；2) 评估哪些土地利用最大化生态系统服务。与碳和水都有关研究人员将在祖莱塔（厄瓜多尔北部）和努多德尔阿苏艾（厄瓜多尔南部）两个帕拉莫研究地点进行现场观察和现场实验，对土壤样本进行实验室分析，并对协同效应和权衡进行评估。以及相关政策，以量化和预测土地利用变化对碳和水相关生态系统服务的影响。这项研究将为预测生态系统对土地利用变化的反应提供重要数据，并将立即产生影响。通过改善生态系统服务付费计划的科学基础来进行社会应用。研究结果将为保护组织提供有关研究区域造林作为土地恢复形式的适当性的关键数据，并将为旨在增强陆地生态系统的政策和计划提供信息。该研究还将为来自美国的几名研究生和一名中学科学教师以及厄瓜多尔阿苏艾大学的本科生提供教育机会，并将加强该研究。调查人员与其厄瓜多尔合作伙伴之间的合作。