Development of Research Infrastructure in a Tropical Rainforest Field Station

拉塞尔瓦生物站（La Selva Biological Station）是哥斯达黎加的一个低地热带雨林遗址，在美国了解和帮助保护世界湿热带地区迅速消失的生态系统的努力中发挥着关键作用。该站结合了先进的分析实验室设施和无与伦比的栖息地光谱，包括可用于实验研究的大片区域。过去二十年的发现使拉塞尔瓦成为世界上最容易理解的热带地区之一。由于该站为科学家提供了越来越多的支持，研究得到了极大的加强和多样化——从系统学和进化生态学的强大基础扩展到生态系统研究、生理生态学、土壤科学、分子生物学和大气化学。La Selva现在准备支持全球变化、热带土地利用和生物多样性等重要领域的关键工作。该项目旨在创建互补资源，以大大提高La Selva推进热带科学的能力。一个综合的数据库管理和地理信息系统将把过去和正在进行的研究的大量资料结合起来并提供给人们。这将是最高级别的智力研究催化剂。

La Selva Biological Station, a lowland tropical rain forest site in Costa Rica, is playing a pivotal role in the United States` effort to understand and help conserve the rapidly disappearing ecosystems of the world's wet tropics. The station combines advanced analytical lab facilities with an unrivaled spectrum of habitats, including large areas available for experimental studies. Findings from the last two decades make La Selva one of the best understood tropical sites worldwide. As the station has offered increasing support to scientists, research has intensified and diversified dramatically - extending from a strong base of systematics and evolutionary ecology into ecosystem studies, physiological ecology, soil science, molecular biology, and atmospheric chemistry. La Selva is now poised to support key work in important areas such as global change, land use in the tropics, and biodiversity. This project is to create complementary resources to greatly increase La Selva`s ability to advance tropical science. An integrated database management and geographic information system will unite and make available the wealth of information from past and ongoing studies. This will be an intellectual research catalyst of the highest order.