Administration, Maintenance and Development of La Selva Biological Station

在过去的17年里，通过OTS培训和研究的机会急剧增加。壮观的生物多样性、多样化的观察和实验栖息地、教室空间、训练有素的现场技术人员和自然历史指南的可获得性、先进的实验室设施、最先进的地理信息/数据库管理系统以及友好的社会政治环境，都有助于OTS的持续增长。毗邻La Selva遗址的国家公园增加了长期的生态安全，全面的总体规划和独立的咨询委员会指导管理和设施开发。每年有60多个研究生和本科生课程和250多名研究人员使用La Selva车站。La Selva为美国学术界的一个异常广泛的部分提供服务，并在拉丁美洲和其他地区的科学发展中发挥着越来越重要的作用。为此，OTS理应得到长期的支持。由于经济原因，在潮湿的热带地区，只有少数几个地点可以在生态系统完好的大型保护区附近发展装备齐全的野战站。很少有其他大陆热带地区有如此漫长而持续的历史，让美国学生和科学家轻松进入。因此，该电台是美国本科和研究生教育、生物多样性和全球变化计划的宝贵组成部分，并服务于远远超出OTS成员机构的选民群体。

This project will provide continued support of core programs of the organization for Tropical Studies (OTS) as it takes on an increasing role in global efforts to train students in rain forest ecology and to understand, sustainably manage, and conserve ecosystems in the wet tropics. In the last 17 years training and research opportunities have increased dramatically through OTS. Spectacular biodiversity, diverse habitats for observation and experimentation, classroom space, availability of well-trained field technicians and natural history guides,advanced laboratory facilitates, a state-of-the-art Geographic Information/Database Management System, and a welcoming sociopolitical environment have all contributed to OTS's continuing growth. The National Park adjacent to the La Selva site increases long-term ecological security, and a comprehensive Master Plan and independent advisory committee guide management and facilities development. More than 60 graduate and undergraduate courses and over 250 researchers use the La Selva station each year. La Selva serves an unusually broad segment of the US academic community and is playing an increasingly important role in the development of science in Latin America and beyond. In so doing OTS merits long-term support. For economic reasons there will be only a handful of sites in the humid tropics where fully equipped field stations can be developed adjacent to very large protected areas with intact ecosystems. Very few other continental tropical areas have such a long, continuing history of easy access by US students and scientists. La Selva--with its exceptional facilities and protected habitats, location within the democratic Republic of Costa Rica, and intense activity by the US scientific academic community--is a world center for the study of tropical rain forests and their associated altered ecosystems. As such,the station is a valuable element of the nation's programs for undergraduate and graduate education, biodiversity, and global change, and serves a constituency that extends far beyond OTS member institutions.