Collaborative Research: Understanding range limits and plant migration in response to climate change in Neotropical montane forests: moving from observational models to mechanisms

合作研究：了解新热带山地森林应对气候变化的范围限制和植物迁移：从观测模型转向机制

• 批准号: 1258112
• 负责人: Miles Silman
• 金额: $ 36万
• 依托单位: Wake Forest University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2013-03-15 至 2017-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1258112&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Understanding; range; limits

Understanding species responses to climate change is one of the central problems in ecology. Over the last decade, the researchers who will lead this project have used the elevation gradient spanning 3500 m from the Amazonian lowlands to the Andean treeline as a natural laboratory for investigating forest and ecosystem ecology. That previous work has documented tree migration in response to climate change, and predicted changes in the ranges of species under different scenarios of change. This project will now go further to investigate the underlying causes of such changes in where trees grow. The researchers will compare the physiology of plant species known to be migrating in response to climate change in the Andes and Amazon with the physiology of species that are holding their ground, and test the importance of environmental factors such as temperature, soil, herbivory and fungal pathogens. The results will help understand where tree species can survive, what affects their growth, and what limits their range along environmental gradients. The project will increase our ability to predict and model the effects of climate change on natural systems, particularly tropical montane forests, which are areas of high biodiversity.The broader impacts of this project include a suite of educational activities, resources, and opportunities aimed at teaching K-12 and college students about tropical ecology and the effects of global climate change; training opportunities for international and minority students which will assist them in pursuing advanced education and careers in the natural sciences; and the dissemination of results to a broad scientific and lay audience, including Spanish translations and versions of resources.

了解物种对气候变化的反应是生态学中的核心问题之一。在过去的十年中，将领导该项目的研究人员使用了从亚马逊低地到安第斯山脉Treeline的高程梯度，作为研究森林和生态系统生态学的自然实验室。这项以前的工作记录了树木迁移，以应对气候变化，并预测在不同的变化情况下物种范围的变化。现在，该项目将进一步研究树木生长的这种变化的根本原因。 研究人员将比较已知因响应于安第斯山脉和亚马逊气候变化而迁移的植物物种的生理学与持有地面的物种的生理学，并测试环境因素的重要性，例如温度，土壤，草食，草食和真菌病原体。 结果将有助于了解树种可以生存的地方，影响其生长的原因以及沿环境梯度限制其范围的原因。 该项目将提高我们预测和建模气候变化对自然系统的影响，尤其是热带山地森林的影响，尤其是热带山地森林，这些森林是高生物多样性的领域。该项目的更广泛的影响包括一系列旨在教授K-12和大学生的教育活动，资源和机会，以及有关热带生态学的有关热带生态学以及全球气候变化的影响；为国际和少数民族学生的培训机会，这将有助于他们从事自然科学的高级教育和职业；以及将结果传播给广泛的科学和外行受众，包括西班牙语翻译和资源版本。