Collaborative Research: Ecosystem Dynamics in Hawaii: An Experimental Analysis Along Gradients of State Factors

Drs。Vitousek和Mueller-Dombois将沿着夏威夷群岛土壤年龄、温度、湿度和生物群的独立梯度，对生态系统水平的生物地球化学调节进行综合观测和实验研究。生物、地质和气候特征结合在一起，使夏威夷群岛成为一个独特的系统，在这个系统中，生态系统理论的许多方面都可以通过实验来检验。广泛的本地优势物种和外来物种入侵的显著影响为明确确定种群和生理水平过程的生态系统水平后果提供了机会。本研究旨在确定在土壤发育过程中生态系统动力学是如何被调节的，并作为气候的一个功能。生理过程与生态系统功能的相互作用以及改变生态系统动态的种群和群落过程（生物入侵，林分水平枯死）的运作都被纳入其中。将利用观测和实验评价和改进CENTURY模式的修改版本，所产生的衍生模式将用于设计进一步的实地实验，并作为综合和外推的工具。这一努力的结果将有助于解决热带生物多样性和全球变化问题。来自斯坦福大学和夏威夷大学的大学支持非常出色。Drs。Vitousek和Mueller- Dombois是热带生态系统研究领域富有创造力和生产力的研究人员。

Drs. Vitousek and Mueller-Dombois will conduct an integrated observational and experimental study of the regulation of ecosystem-level biogeochemistry along independent gradients of soil age, temperature, moisture, and biota in the Hawaiian Islands. Biological, geological, and climatic features combine to make the Hawaiian Islands a unique system in which many aspects of ecosystem theory can be tested experimentally. The broad range of dominant native species and the striking impact of invasions by exotic species offer the opportunity to determine unambiguously the ecosystem level consequences of population and physiological-level processes. This research is designed to determine how ecosystem dynamics are regulated during soil development and as a function of climate. Both the interactions of physiological processes with ecosystem functions and the operation of population and community processes (biological invasions, stand-level die-back) that alter ecosystem dynamics are incorporated. A modified version of the CENTURY model will be evaluated and improved using observations and experiments, and the resulting derivative models will be used in the design of further field experiments and as tools for integration and extrapolation. The results of this effort will contribute to issues of tropical biodiversity and global change. University support from Stanford and the University of Hawaii is outstanding. Drs. Vitousek and Mueller- Dombois are creative and productive researchers in the area of tropical ecosystem research.