Patterns in water flux and carbon cycle controls along land use and climate gradients

从稀树大草原到高山高山地带，沿海拔梯度分布的生态系统中水的组成通量的控制和大小。将定义乞力马扎罗山，以便将这些关键过程与标准水平的生物多样性联系起来。此外，生态系统的碳增量将根据水的使用情况进行确定，以便为植物生长和生产的模拟提供输入。从水量平衡和储存的调节方面对土壤进行表征，将为理解土壤溶液化学和养分运输提供必要的信息。从密集研究地点获得的信息将总结在一个基于过程的碳和水通量模型中，该模型概括了我们从干旱地带到林带，再到受高海拔寒冷温度影响的地区时对控制的理解。采用嵌套实验策略，允许我们基于对48个大范围站点的可能观察，将过程变化纳入每个生态系统的模型中。在嵌套战略中，最重要的是对全球变化影响最大的上、下森林边界的进程进行详细评估(6个群集点)。我们确定了聚集在森林下部边界周围和上部森林边界周围的试验点，在那里，人为活动日益改变了自然植被，而在那里，气候变化导致了火灾频率的增加。分组地点还属于12个重点地点的集合，每种生态系统类型在调查中各有一个，在这些地点进行非常详细的进程研究(分组地点)或密集的运动。这项研究的长期成果将是一个标准水平的碳和水通量以及年度平衡模型，可以应用于山体水平的模拟。乞力马扎罗山地区。

Controls on and the magnitudes of component fluxes of water in ecosystems distributed along the elevation gradient from savanna to the alpine zone of Mt. Kilimanjaro will be defined, in order to relate these critical processes to stand level biodiversity. Additionally, carbon gain by the ecosystems will be determined in relation to water use, in order to provide input to simulations of plant growth and production. Characterization of soils in terms of the regulation of water balances and storage will provide information essential to the understanding of soil solution chemistry and nutrient transport. Information gained from the studies at intensive research sites will be summarized in a process-based carbon and water flux model, which generalizes our understanding of controls as we move from the arid zone, to the forest belt, and to the region influenced by cold temperatures at high elevation. A nested experimental strategy is employed that will allow us to include process variation into the model for each ecosystem, based on the possible observations at 48 extensive sites. Within the nested strategy, greatest emphasis is placed on detailed evaluation of processes at the upper and lower forest boundaries where global change influences are greatest (6 cluster sites). We define experimental sites that are clustered around the lower forest boundary, where anthropogenic activities increasingly modify the natural vegetation, and around the upper forest boundary, where climate change has led to increased fire frequency. Cluster sites belong also to a collection of 12 focal sites, one in each ecosystem type under investigation, where either very detailed process studies (cluster sites) or intensive campaigns are carried out. The long-term product of the research will be a stand level model for carbon and water fluxes and annual balances that may be applied in landscape level simulations for the Mt. Kilimanjaro region.