Regional Analysis of Ecosystem Structure and Function in the Central Grasslands Regions of the United States

生态学家在理解和解决与全球变化相关的问题上的最大障碍之一是无法在与这些问题相关的尺度上描述生态系统的结构和动态。迄今为止，生态学家还没有充分利用地球科学界其他人所使用的方法和取得的进展。作为提高生态学家与其他地球科学家交流结果的能力的一个步骤，该项目将对美国中部草原进行区域分析。分析的目的是了解该地区生态系统的现状，并评估其对气候和管理变化的潜在反应。该方法将包括建立一个区域数据库，统计评估数据库中生物和非生物变量之间的关系，并使用模拟模型评估该地区的现状，并了解气候变化的潜在区域后果。

One of the most significant impediments to the ability of ecologists to contribute to understanding and solving issues associated with global change is the inability to characterize ecosystem structure and dynamics at scales that are relevant to those issues. To date, ecologists have not taken full advantage of the approaches used and advances made by the remainder of the earth science community. As a step in the process of increasing, the ability of ecologists to exchange results with other earth scientists, this project will conduct a regional analysis of the central grasslands of the United States. The objectives of the analysis are to understand the current state of ecosystems in the region and to evaluate their potential responses to climate and management change. The approach will involve constructing a regional database, statistically evaluating relationships among biotic and abiotic variables in the database, and using simulation models to assess the current state of the region and to understand the potential regional consequences of climate change.