US-Brazil Cooperative Research: Land Use Implications on the Net Ecosystem Production and Energy Balance of Tropical Forest Ecosystem

Vourlitis0003778这个美国-巴西奖项由国际项目部提供支持，用于加州州立大学圣马科斯分校的George Vourlitis博士和巴西Cuiaba的马托格罗索联邦大学的Nicolau Priante Filho博士之间的合作研究。他们将研究土地利用对热带森林生态系统净生态系统生产和能量平衡的影响。该项目将建立在两个机构之间现有合作的基础上，以衡量亚马逊热带过渡森林的净生态系统生产(NEP)。NEP是森林通过初级生产总值减去生态系统通过植物和土壤呼吸向大气中损失的二氧化碳而同化大气中的二氧化碳。他们一直在测量巴西Cerradao(热带季节性森林)的NEP，现在将增加牛牧场的测量，这是亚马逊南部土地覆盖变化的主要形式。迫切需要了解热带陆地生态系统在全球二氧化碳平衡中的作用。这项研究将填补我们对热带生态系统碳循环的理解空白。PIS将测量马托格罗索州北部成熟、完整的克拉达岛和牛牧场的净资产。然后，他们将把NEP和小气候的测量与一个基于过程的模型联系起来，以评估土地覆盖变化对NEP的季节性和年际速率和模式的影响。除了这一研究领域的好处外，这个项目还将包括对双方年轻研究人员的培训，使他们接触到新的研究方法和技术。

Vourlitis0003778This U.S.-Brazil award provides support from the Division of International Programs for a cooperative research between Dr. George Vourlitis, California State University, San Marcos, and Dr. Nicolau Priante Filho at Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, in Cuiaba, Brazil. They will study the land use implications on the net ecosystem production and energy balance of tropical forest ecosystem.This project will build upon an existing collaboration between the two institutions to measure the net ecosystem production (NEP) of Amazonian tropical transitional forest. NEP is the forest assimilation of atmospheric CO2 through gross primary production minus ecosystem CO2 loss to the atmosphere by plant and soil respiration. They have been measuring the NEP of Brazilian cerradao (the tropical seasonal forest) and will now add the measurement of cattle pasture, which is the dominant form of land cover change in southern Amazonia. There is an urgent need to understand the role of tropical terrestrial ecosystems in the global CO2 balance. This research will fill in a gap in our understanding of tropical ecosystem carbon cycling. The PIs will measure the NEP of mature, intact cerradao and cattle pasture of northern Mato Grosso. They will then link measurements of NEP and microclimate to a process-based model to assess the implications of land cover change on the seasonal and interannual rates and patterns of NEP.Besides the benefit to this area of research, this project will include the training of young researchers on both sides, exposing them to new research methods and technology.