Enhancing Regional Capabilities and Partnerships to Conduct Global Change Research

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The SysTem for Analysis, Research and Training (START) will enhance regional capabilities and partnerships to conduct global change research on a regional and sub-regional basis. The proposed activities have a special focus on regional cooperation in Temperate East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, Africa, the Mediterranean, and Oceania. These activities are intended to develop networks in these regions which would support pilot-scale research activities related to global change and related regional data and information system capabilities. Specific activities are expected to be directed towards: enhancement of regional resarch capacities and networking capabilities; formulation of coherent regional research agendas; identificationof potential collaborating scientists, institutions, and related organizations; and development, planning and implementation of standard research technologies, methodologies, and protocols. These projects will focus on planning and scoping workshops: syntheses and analysis of existing knowledge and databases; capacity building and networks; and developpment of databases and other information intensive products which may provide useful input for national and regional policy processes. Specific activities/topics likely to be of special interest to U.S. scientists include studies of land use change in East Asia; impacts of El Nino and La Nina on SOutheast Asia; regional modeling of monsoon systems; effects of carbon dioxide enrichment on rice production; modeling of river inputs to coastal zones of Southeast Asia; industrial transformation in South and East Asia; studies of land use and degradation; global change and sustainability of rangelands; globalchange and freshwater resources; and capacity-building. Additional broad areas of emphasis are expected to include climate variability and change with emphasis on seasonal-to decadal variability on a regional basis and the resulting applications of information on climate variability; land use and biodiversity; and the carbon cycle and its influence inthe Mediterranean and Africa.