Development of Research Infrastructure in a Tropical Rainforest Field Station

位于哥斯达黎加的低地热带雨林遗址La Selva生物站在美国了解和帮助保护正在迅速消失的世界湿热带生态系统的努力中发挥着关键作用。空间站将先进的分析实验室设施与无与伦比的栖息地范围相结合，包括可用于实验研究的大片区域。过去20年的发现使拉塞尔瓦成为世界上最受了解的热带遗址之一。随着空间站为科学家提供越来越多的支持，研究工作得到了加强和多样化-从强大的系统学和进化生态学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。这个项目是为了创造互补的资源，以极大地提高拉塞尔瓦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统一起来，并提供过去和正在进行的研究的丰富信息。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.