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: 1309876
• 负责人: Melinda Smith
• 金额: $ 11.87万
• 依托单位: Colorado State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-09-15 至 2014-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1309876&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Convergence; Contingencies; Savanna

Grasslands and savannas occupy one eighth of the land surface on Earth, are economically important as grazing lands, and are highly impacted by human activities. They also have tremendous conservation value and support most remaining large native grazing animals in the world, particularly in Africa. A fundamental understanding of the factors most important for sustaining savanna grasslands, including their natural fire and grazing regimes, is required for their management and conservation. Scientists have questioned whether grasslands in different regions function similarly. Convergence in functioning would mean that ecological understanding and conservation strategies could be generalized for savanna grasslands worldwide. But contingent factors specific to a region, such as differences in evolutionary history or the types of grazers present, may lead to unique responses in some savanna grasslands. The goal of this research is to compare responses of key ecological processes to fire and grazing in North American and South African savanna grasslands. Scientists will take advantage of three ongoing, long-term experiments that manipulate fire return interval and the presence of large grazers. Responses of plant productivity, plant diversity and nutrient cycling will be compared, and the mechanisms underlying responses, such as differences in plant traits or evolutionary histories, will be assessed. Comparative research elucidating the consequences of human alterations of fire and grazing regimes worldwide is needed to enable development of management strategies that can insure the sustainability of ecologically and economically important savanna grasslands. This research will provide the basic knowledge necessary to do so, as well as afford training and important global and cultural experiences for young scientists, graduate students and undergraduates. Finally, though collaborations that are already established, results will be made available to scientists and managers in South Africa.

草原和稀树草原占据地球上土地表面的八分之一，作为放牧土地在经济上很重要，并且受人类活动的影响很大。它们还具有巨大的保护价值，并支持世界上最剩下的大多数大型本地放牧动物，尤其是在非洲。对维持稀树草原草原最重要的因素（包括其自然火和放牧政权）的基本理解是其管理和保护所必需的。科学家质疑不同地区的草原是否相似。在功能中的融合意味着可以将生态理解和保护策略推广到全球的Savanna Grasslands。但是，特定地区的特定因素，例如进化史的差异或放牧者的类型，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关键生态过程对北美和南非大草原草原开火和放牧的反应。科学家将利用三个正在进行的长期实验来操纵火灾间隔和大型放牧者的存在。将比较植物生产率，植物多样性和营养循环的反应，将评估诸如植物特征或进化史的差异之类的机制。需要进行比较研究，以阐明全球火灾和放牧政权改变人类改变的后果，以制定可以确保生态和经济上重要的萨凡纳草原的可持续性的管理策略。这项研究将为年轻科学家，研究生和本科生提供必要的基本知识，并提供培训以及重要的全球和文化经验。 最后，尽管已经建立了合作，但结果将向南非的科学家和经理提供。