LTER: Sevilleta Long Term Ecological Research III: Long Term Ecological Research in a Biome Transition Zone

塞维利亚长期生态研究方案（LTER）成立于1988年，在新墨西哥州中部的生物群落过渡区进行生态过程和对气候动态的反应研究。主要的研究地点是塞维利亚国家野生动物保护区，由美国鱼类和野生动物管理局（FWS）运营。该多学科研究小组由来自10所大学和众多研究机构的34名科学家组成，包括FWS，大自然保护协会，美国地质调查局，美国农业部林业局，美国农业部农业研究局，美国能源部洛斯阿拉莫斯国家实验室和美国能源部桑迪亚国家实验室。LTER计划的主要目标是开发和测试一个控制和限制生物聚集体在其分布边缘移动的分层模型。这些运动是大量非生物和生物变量之间复杂相互作用的结果，在广泛的空间尺度上，时间从几分钟到几个世纪不等。Sevilleta LTER模型和实验探讨了主要控制变量的相对作用，并能够预测自然和人为扰动可能导致的生物群落过渡区结构和功能的变化。特别感兴趣的是水分供应的作用，在驱动的分布扩张和收缩的C3和C4植物物种在十年的时间框架，以及由此产生的变化，在当地和景观水平的生态过程。这些研究的结果将使人们更好地了解支配新墨西哥州中部主要生态系统动态的物理和生物过程，以及导致荒漠化过程的因素，并有助于更好地了解和管理环境，以促进可持续的人类利用和发展。

The Sevilleta Long-term Ecological Research (LTER) Program, established in 1988, conducts research on ecological processes and responses to climate dynamics in a biome transition zone in central New Mexico. The major research site is the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, operated by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). The multi-disciplinary research group comprises 34 scientists from 10 universities and numerous research agencies, including FWS, The Nature Conservancy, US Geological Survey, USDA Forest Service, USDA Agricultural Research Service, DOE Los Alamos National Laboratory, and DOE Sandia National Laboratory. The primary goal of the LTER Program is to develop and test a hierarchical model of controls and constraints on the movements of biotic assemblages at the edges of their distributions. These movements occur as a result of complex interactions among a large number of abiotic and biotic variables, at a wide range of spatial scales, and over time periods ranging from minutes to centuries. The Sevilleta LTER models and experiments address the relative roles of the major controlling variables, and allow prediction of changes in the structure and functioning of biome transition zones that would result from natural and anthropogenic perturbations. Of particular interest is the role of moisture availability in driving the distributional expansion and contraction of C3 and C4 plant species over decadal time frames, and the resulting changes in local and landscape level ecological processes. The results of these studies will provide a greater understanding of the physical and biological processes that govern the dynamics of the major ecosystems in central New Mexico, factors that lead to desertification processes, and contribute to improved understanding and management of the environment for sustainable human use and development.