BIOCOMPLEXITY-INCUBATION ACTIVITY: The Effects of Global Change On Community Structure, Biodiversity And Ecosystem-Level Processes In Pinyon-Juniper Woodlands

全球气候变化正在影响世界各地的生态系统，其中一些最强烈的影响发生在美国西南部的干旱地区。为了应对最近的干旱，树木大量死亡，有害昆虫增加到创纪录的水平。这些变化如何影响植物、动物和微生物，可能会改变整个生态系统的运作方式，从而影响生活在干旱地区的人类。我们组建了一个生态学、遗传学、生理学和土壤学的研究团队，他们研究了帮助植物从土壤中获取养分的土壤微生物，攻击干旱压力下树木的昆虫，以及鸟类和哺乳动物在美国西南部最大的森林类型之一中的重要性。我们建议举办一次研讨会和虚拟会议，以便这些专家可以开展新的合作，并确定未来最能应对全球干旱环境变化挑战的研究领域。这个研讨会的目标是通过融入其他学科和技术，如计算机建模和稳定同位素分析，来扩大我们对复杂生态过程的理解，以预测全球变化对生态和遗传系统可能产生的影响。

0083623GehringGlobal changes are affecting ecosystems worldwide, and some of the strongest effects are in the arid lands of the southwestern US. In response to recent droughts, trees have died in large numbers and harmful insects have expanded to record levels. How these changes impact plants, animals and microbes may change the way entire ecosystems function, thereby affecting human populations living in arid areas. We have assembled a team of researchers in ecology, genetics, physiology and soil science who have studied the soil microbes that help plants acquire nutrients from the soil, the insects that attack drought-stressed trees, and the importance of birds and mammals in one of the largest forest types of the southwestern US. We propose to hold a workshop and virtual meetings so that these experts may develop new collaborations and determine areas of future research that will best meet the challenges of global change in arid environments. The goals of this workshop are to expand our understanding of complex ecological processes by incorporating other disciplines and technologies, like computer modeling and stable isotope analysis, to predict the likely impacts of global change on ecological and genetic systems.