U.S. Mexico Cooperative Research: Methane Fluxes and Cycling in Mangroves Ecosystems

0128178 Paytan美国-墨西哥奖将支持斯坦福大学的Adina Paytan博士与Jorge A. Herrera Silveira来自墨西哥尤卡坦半岛的Cinvestav-Merida。 研究人员打算进行一项为期多年的研究，以更好地了解红树林生态系统中甲烷产生和氧化的机制。 他们的目标是获得从红树林生态系统到大气的甲烷通量的可靠估计，并预测可能由气候和人为变化引起的这种通量的波动。 美国国家科学基金会国际科学与工程办公室和环境生物学部将为这项研究提供资金。研究将在墨西哥尤卡坦半岛几个以红树林植被为主的泻湖进行。这些泻湖具有相似的植被和气候模式，但淡水和营养物质输入以及人为影响的水平差异很大，因此可以在研究中比较各种参数。项目结果将有助于更好地估计全世界红树林生态系统对全球甲烷收支的贡献，并预测这一流量的潜在变化。合作者将为该项目带来互补的技能，Herrera-Silveira博士强调生物学方面，Paytan博士专注于生态系统中的生物化学相互作用。

0128178PaytanThis U.S.-Mexico award will support Dr. Adina Paytan of Stanford University in a research collaboration with Dr. Jorge A. Herrera-Silveira of Cinvestav-Merida in Yucatan, Mexico. The researchers intend to work on a multiple-year study to gain a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying methane production and oxidation in mangrove ecosystems. They aim to obtain reliable estimates of methane flux from mangrove ecosystems to the atmosphere, and predict fluctuations in this flux that may result from climatic and anthropogenic change. The Office of International Science and Engineering and the Division of Environmental Biology of NSF will contribute funds for the research.The study will take place in several lagoons dominated by mangrove vegetation located on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. These lagoons have similar vegetation and climate patterns yet very different levels of freshwater and nutrient inputs and anthropogenic impact, allowing for comparison of various parameters in the study. Project results will allow better estimates to be made of the contribution of worldwide mangrove ecosystems to the global methane budget and predict potential changes in this flux. The collaborators will bring complementary skills to the project with Dr. Herrera-Silveira emphasizing biological aspects and Dr. Paytan focusing on biogeochemical interactions in the ecosystem.