Acquisition of GIS and GPS Equipment by the Rocky Mountain Biological Lab in order to Enable High Resolution Spatially Explicit Research and Training

该奖项支持收购仪器设备，使科学家能够进行空间显式研究并分析空间显式数据。具体地说，落基山生物实验室(RMBL)将购买一个GPS系统、地理信息系统软件和强大的商业数据库软件。RMBL是一个促进研究和培训的生物野外站。研究项目的例子包括鸟类和哺乳动物对高海拔的适应、动物行为、植物与传粉者的相互作用、蝴蝶种群生态和遗传学、河流生态学、全球变暖对山地生态系统的影响、植物人口统计学、高山野花的开花物候以及昆虫捕食者-猎物系统。许多研究项目的持续时间为15至30年，涵盖了从米到公里的空间尺度。一个集成的GPS/地理信息系统仪器系统将增加研究人员可以提出的问题范围，并提高现有研究的质量。更具体地说，GPS站将允许科学家以毫米级的精度定位研究小区，并对植物种群进行详细和长期的人口统计调查。地理信息系统软件将允许科学家进行空间分析，以检测非生物变量和生物变量之间的关系。此外，通过将地理信息系统环境与强大的数据库相结合，该实验室将通过促进历史和当前研究项目的空间整合，提高研究人员的协作能力。这些增强的能力将在广泛的研究活动中帮助科学家。该仪器还将显著提高我们课程的质量，该课程提供广泛的野外课程，包括保护生物学、田野生态学、分子生态学、哺乳动物学、植物学、溪流生态学、鸟类学、地质学和独立研究。该实验室还举办了一个由NSF资助的本科生研究体验项目。在RMBL，研究和教育紧密结合。

\This award supports the acquisition of instrumentation that will allow scientists to conduct spatially explicit research and to analyze spatially explicit data. Specifically, the Rocky Mountain Biological Lab (RMBL) will purchase a GPS system, GIS software, and robust commercial database software. The RMBL is a biological field station that facilitates research and training. Examples of research projects include avian and mammalian adaptations to high elevation, animal behavior, plant-pollinator interactions, butterfly population ecology and genetics, stream ecology, effects of global warming on montane ecosystems, plant demography, flowering phenology of alpine wildflowers, and insect predator-prey systems. Many research projects are of fifteen to thirty years in duration and cover spatial scales from meters to kilometers. An integrated GPS/GIS instrumentation system will increase the range of questions researchers can ask and improve the quality of existing studies. More specifically, the GPS station will allow scientists to locate research plots with a precision of millimeters as well as conduct detailed and long-term demographic surveys of plant populations. The GIS software will allow scientists to perform spatial analyses to detect relationships between abiotic and biotic variables. Additionally, by integrating the GIS environment with a robust database, the Lab will increase the ability of researchers to collaborate by facilitating spatial integration of historical and current research projects. These enhanced capabilities will aid scientists in a wide range of research activities. This instrumentation will also considerably improve the quality of our coursework program, which offers a wide range of field courses including conservation biology, field ecology, molecular ecology, mammology, botany, stream ecology, ornithology, geology, and independent research. The Lab also hosts a NSF-funded Research Experience for Undergraduates Program. Research and education are tightly integrated at RMBL.