Infrastructure Improvement for the Crater Mountain Biological Research Station, Papua New Guinea

野生动物保护协会(WCS)的安德鲁·L·麦晋桁(Andrew L.Mack)博士获得了一笔赠款，用于升级陨石山生物研究站(CMBRS)的基础设施。这些电台位于巴布亚新几内亚(PNG)，这个年轻的民主国家占领了新几内亚岛的东半部分，新几内亚岛是仅次于格陵兰岛的世界第二大岛。该岛拥有地球上超过5%的生物多样性，是地球上现存的三个热带雨林荒野地区之一。尽管有独特的生物群，但巴布亚新几内亚是研究最少、已知最差的主要生态区之一。在那里开展的CMBRS和WCS项目致力于加深我们对这个至关重要的生态区的了解，并为原始热带雨林荒野中的生物学生提供出色的教育机会。十多年来，CMBRS一直是巴布亚新几内亚首屈一指的雨林研究目的地--近100名研究人员在这里工作，发表了50多篇文章。尽管WCS付出了大量努力来维护空间站，但热带气候和20英尺的年降雨量导致的退化正在给空间站带来损失。有必要重建空间站并升级其设施，以满足来访科学家和学生日益增长的需求。一个由焊接钢材和乙烯基壁板建造的新设施将取代目前的全木结构。这座新工厂的预期寿命将超过40年。这些材料将由一家为采矿营地供货的公司在巴布亚新几内亚预制，并通过直升机运送到偏远的CMBRS地点。这笔赠款还将升级目前的太阳能电力服务，并使这个偏远的外地地点能够改进现代计算设施。该站位于巴新第二大(26万公顷)的心脏地带，也是最成功的保护区之一。CMBRS为保护项目提供科学指导，为可行的管理规划提供数据。空间站也是一个独特的教育设施，使美国和其他国家的大学生能够接触到原始的热带森林及其多样化和地方性的生物群。CMBRS的学生培训计划将美国本科生沉浸在一个密集的研究培训计划中，他们将重点放在生物田野研究和自然历史上，为期至少三个月。该电台和WCS还监督为巴布亚新几内亚国民提供的广泛培训计划，否则他们几乎无法获得国家热带雨林的实地研究。CMBRS的教育和研究计划显著提高了我们对这一独特生态系统的了解，并承诺在基础设施改善允许在那里完成更多工作后产生更大的影响。

A grant has been awarded to Dr. Andrew L. Mack at the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) for upgrading infrastructure of the Crater Mountain Biological Research Station (CMBRS). The stations is located in Papua New Guinea (PNG), the young democracy occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea, the world's second largest island after Greenland. The island is home to over 5% of Earth's biodiversity and is one of three remaining tropical rainforest wilderness areas on our planet. Despite the unique biota PNG is one of the least-studied and poorest-known major ecoregions. The CMBRS and the WCS programs undertaken there are dedicated to furthering our knowledge of this critically important ecoregion and providing outstanding education opportunities for biology students in a pristine rainforest wilderness. CMBRS has been the premier rainforest research destination in PNG for over a decade-- nearly 100 researchers have worked here resulting in over 50 publications.Despite substantial efforts by WCS to maintain the station, the degradation from the tropical climate and twenty feet of annual rainfall is taking its toll on the station. It has become necessary to rebuild the station and upgrade its facilities to meet the increasing demands of visiting scientists and students. A new facility constructed of welded steel and vinyl siding will replace the present all-wood structure. This new facility will have an expected lifespan of over forty years. The materials will be pre-fabricated in PNG by a company that supplies mining camps and delivered to the remote CMBRS site by helicopter. The grant will also upgrade the current solar-powered electrical service and enable improved, modern computing facilities in this remote field site. The station is in the heart of PNG's second largest (260,000 hectares) and one of the most successful conservation areas. CMBRS provides scientific guidance for the conservation project, providing data for viable management planning. The station also serves as a unique educational facility; enabling university students from the US and other nations access to pristine tropical forests and its diverse and endemic biota. Student training programs at CMBRS immerse US undergraduate students in an intensive research-training program where they focus on biological field studies and natural history for at least three months. The station and WCS also oversee a wide range of training programs for PNG nationals who otherwise have little access to field-based research in the nation's rainforests. The education and research programs at CMBRS have significantly improved our knowledge of this unique ecosystem and promise to have even greater impact after the infrastructure improvements allow more work to be accomplished there.