Improvements at Las Cruces Biological Station to Enhance Tropical Training and Research

热带研究组织公司（OTS）在哥斯达黎加设有三个生物野外站，供国际科学界广泛使用；La Selva（潮湿的低地雨林）在实现其培训和研究潜力的过程中得到了很好的发展；帕洛阿尔维德（季节性干旱的低地森林）是一块未经开发的钻石，其原始设施已经超出了满足需求的能力，因此升级活动正在进行中。而拉斯克鲁塞斯（位于海拔中等的热带雨林）在基础设施方面确实位于上述两个站点之间，但在1994年11月23日晚上发生的火灾中，建筑物、设备和物资遭受了灾难性的损失。这一损失发生在拉斯克鲁塞斯站发展的一个特别关键的时刻，因为它正在努力适应课程和研究人员的需求，特别是那些对高度多样化的中海拔生态系统感兴趣的人，这些生态系统是人类最喜欢和使用的。最近，对话生物学家、森林学家和农业生态学家的活动激增，为系统学家和生态学家的传统增加了可持续发展的维度。由于该站在地区、国家和国际舞台上的重要性，正在进行精简和重建该站的计划。该项目将支持以下活动：1)改造现有房屋，以取代一些因容纳学生和研究人员而失去的能力；2)对火灾中幸存的通用实验室进行翻新；3)建造一些空间分隔的建筑，以取代在火灾中失去的平衡（即长期研究人员住房、研究实验室和一个将容纳厨房、餐厅、办公室、供应室和洗衣房的综合服务大楼）；4)更换丢失的设备和物资。就像手机制造商从灰烬中崛起一样，拉斯克鲁塞斯（Las Cruces）将这场灾难视为一种挑战，并正在充分利用这一令人悲伤的局面，制定一个合理而节俭的计划，以实现其复兴。OTS正在抓住这个机会，根据用户的需要定制新设施。

The Organization for Tropical Studies, Inc. (OTS) has three biological field stations in Costa Rica that are used by a broad spectrum of the international scientific community; La Selva (wet lowland rainforest) is developed and well along the way to achieving its training and research potential; Palo Verde (seasonally dry lowland forest) is a diamond is the rough with primitive facilities that have been stressed beyond capabilities to service the demand -- so upgrading activities are underway here; and Las Cruces (we mid- elevation premontane rainforest) did lie somewhere between the above two stations in terms of infrastructure, but suffered a disastrous loss of buildings, equipment and supplies when fire struck on the evening of November 23, 1994. This loss has come at a particularly critical time in the development of the Las Cruces station as it struggles to accommodate the demand by courses and researchers, particularly those interested in highly diverse mid- elevation ecosystems that are most heavily preferred and used by human populations. The recent surge in activity by conversation biologists, foresters, and agroecologists has added a sustainable development dimension to the traditional by systematists and ecologists. Because of the importance of this station on the regional, national, and international scene, plans are underway to streamline and rebuild the station. This project will support activities to: 1) remodel an existing house to replace some of the capacity that was lost for accommodating groups of students and researchers; 2) refurbish the general-purpose laboratory that survived the fire; 3) construct a number of spatially separated buildings to replace the balance of what was lost in the fire (viz. long-term researcher housing, research laboratory, and a general services building that will house the kitchen, dining room, office, supply room and laundry); and 4) replace the lost equipment and supplies. Like the rise of the phoe nix from the ashes, Las Cruces has taken this calamity as a challenge and is making the most of a sad situation to develop a sound and frugal plan for its resurrection. OTS is seizing on this opportunity to tailor the new facilities to the user's needs.