International Research Fellowship Program: Determinants of Relative Species Abundance: A Cross-Continental Comparison of Tropical Tree Communities

0703571国际研究奖学金计划使美国科学家和工程师能够在国外进行9到24个月的研究。该计划的奖项提供了联合研究的机会，以及使用独特或互补的设施，专业知识和国外的实验条件。Comita与巴拿马热带森林科学中心的StuartJ.Davies博士合作。为什么有些物种很常见，而另一些却非常罕见？在热带地区，确定树木群落的常见性和稀有性的原因对于了解森林的结构至关重要，对保护热带多样性具有重要意义。本研究的目的是研究热带树木群落物种丰富度的决定因素和限制，并调查热带森林中形成物种相对丰富度模式的过程是否不同。为此，标准化的数据集从网络的大型森林地块位于整个热带地区被用来测试假设的共性和稀有性的模式内和之间的热带树木群落。这个全球地块网络由热带森林科学中心（巴拿马城，巴拿马）协调，该中心拥有世界上最大的热带树木动态数据库，其中包含约6000个物种的300多万个个体的信息，估计占地球上所有热带树种的10%。目前的研究是对不同热带森林物种丰度进行的最全面的跨地点分析之一，并将提供有关这些群落结构的基本信息。了解热带森林遗址之间的相似性和差异性将有助于保护和恢复热带地区令人难以置信的多样性。此外，该项目还在国际范围内提供博士后培训，并帮助博士后研究员进一步实现其职业目标，将基础研究成果应用于拉丁美洲的森林养护和恢复工作。

0703571ComitaThe International Research Fellowship Program enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct nine to twenty-four months of research abroad. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions abroad.This award will support a twenty-four-month research fellowship by Dr. Liza S. Comita to work with Dr. Stuart J. Davies at the Center for Tropical Forest Science in Panama.Why are some species common, while others are exceedingly rare? In the tropics, identifying the causes of commonness and rarity in tree communities is essential for understanding how forests are structured and has important implications for the conservation of tropical diversity. The objectives of this study are to examine the determinants of and limits to species abundances in tropical tree communities and to investigate whether the processes shaping species relative abundance patterns differ among tropical forests. To this end, standardized datasets from a network of large forests plots located throughout the tropics are being used to test hypotheses concerning patterns of commonness and rarity both within and among tropical tree communities. This global plot network is coordinated by the Center for Tropical Forest Science (Panama City, Panama), which possesses the world's largest database on tropical tree dynamics, with information on over 3 million individuals of ~6000 species, estimated to represent 10% of all tropical tree species on earth. The current study is among the most comprehensive cross-site analyses of species abundances in diverse tropical forests and will provide fundamental information about how such communities are structured. An understanding of the similarities and differences among tropical forests sites will aid efforts to conserve and restore the incredible diversity of the tropics. In addition, the project is providing postdoctoral training in an international context and is helping the postdoctoral fellow further her career goal of applying basic research findings to forest conservation and restoration efforts in Latin America.