U.S.-Mexico Cooperative Research: Current and Future Patterns of Vegetation and Ecosystem Function in the Regions of San Diego and La Paz, Mexico

0072140这个美国墨西哥奖将支持圣地亚哥州立大学的Walter Oeschel博士、Douglas Deutschman博士和Paul Ganster博士与墨西哥下加利福尼亚州拉巴斯的生物研究中心(CIBNOR)的Arturo Muhlia Melo博士及其团队之间的研究合作。这项研究的总体目标是发展预测拉巴斯和圣地亚哥地区干旱和半干旱生态系统当前和未来植被和生态系统功能模式的能力。具体目标包括确定南加州和下加利福尼亚州生态系统二氧化碳通量和水使用的年度间和年内模式，利用生态系统地貌模型预测该区域当前和未来的碳和水通量，并通过实地采样和航空测量区域气体和水通量以及遥感加以验证。半干旱生态系统往往是生物多样性的中心，是稀有和濒危物种的中心，对全球变化的影响特别敏感。拟议的合作将结合边界两侧目前的活动，以SDSU和CIBNOR的互补专业知识为基础，并将科学研究成果与社会经济背景、地方、国家和国际政策联系起来。

0072140OeschelThis U.S. Mexico award will support a research collaboration between Drs. Walter Oeschel, Douglas Deutschman, and Paul Ganster of San Diego State University and Dr. Arturo Muhlia Melo and his group at the Centro de Investigaciones Biologicas del Noroeste (CIBNOR) in La Paz, Baja California, Mexico. The overall objective of the research is to develop the capability to predict current and future patterns of vegetation and ecosystem function in the arid and semi-arid ecosystems of the La Paz and San Diego regions. Specific objectives include determining the inter- and intra annual pattern of ecosystem carbon dioxide flux and water use in Southern California and Baja California, using ecosystem landscape models to predict current and future carbon and water flux of the region and validating them with field sampling and aircraft measurement of regional gas and water fluxes and remote sensing. Semi-arid ecosystems are often centers of bio-diversity, of rare and endangered species, and are particularly sensitive to the impacts of global change. The proposed collaboration will integrate current activities on each side of the border, building on the complementary expertise at SDSU and CIBNOR, and linking results of scientific research to the socio-economic context, local, national, and international policy.