Collaborative Research: Effects of tropical watershed deforestation on mangrove ecosystem function and services

整个热带地区都在砍伐沿海流域的森林，改变了水、养分和沉积物向红树林河口和沿海海洋的输送。发生这种情况的原因是，高地流域的土地利用变化与地势梯度下的水生生态系统之间存在着强有力的联系。这项研究采用创新的多学科生态，水文和地球化学方法，沿沿着六个断面在巴拿马从流域受到不同程度的森林砍伐沿海红树林。这一布局将使人们能够检验有关砍伐森林与红树林生态系统功能有关的假设。研究结果将为沿海地区的组织方式以及人类活动如何重新调整自然耦合提供新的视角。这项工作将以液体丛林实验室为基地，这是一个可以在偏远地区进行现代研究的研究站，其更广泛的影响包括确定热带沿海地区土地使用做法与相邻红树林条件之间的联系。研究结果将为评估砍伐森林对沿海红树林生态系统的影响提供所需的信息，这些生态系统提供一系列具有经济价值的生态服务，如鱼类和贝类育苗、拦截陆地产生的营养物质、输出富含能源的物质、稳定海岸线、维持生物多样性和各种可收获产量。一个教育和推广项目将侧重于培训美国和拉丁美洲的博士后、研究生和本科生。与巴拿马和阿根廷同事的密切合作将使双语网站，演示文稿和新项目能够通过数字，印刷和口头方式将结果传递给当地人，管理人员，决策者和科学同事。

Deforestation of coastal watersheds is occurring throughout the tropics, altering transport of water, nutrients and sediments to mangrove estuaries and coastal oceans. This occurs because of powerful couplings linking land use changes on upland watersheds to receiving aquatic ecosystems down the topographical gradient. This research uses innovative multidisciplinary ecological, hydrological and biogeochemical approaches along six transects in Panama from watersheds subject to different degrees of deforestation to coastal mangroves. This layout will enable testing of hypotheses relating deforestation to functioning of mangrove ecosystems. Results will provide a fresh view of how coastal zones are organized and how human activities reshuffle natural couplings. The work will be based in the Liquid Jungle Laboratory, a research station that permits doing modern research in a remote setting.Broader impacts of the work include definition of the connections between land use practices and conditions in adjoining mangroves in tropical coastal areas. Results will furnish information needed for assessing impacts of deforestation on coastal mangrove ecosystems that provide a series of economically valuable ecological services, such as fish and shellfish nurseries, interception of land derived nutrients, export of energy rich materials, stabilization of shorelines, maintenance of biodiversity, and various harvestable yields. An education and outreach program will focus on training U.S. and Latin American postdoctoral, graduate and undergraduate students. Strong collaborations with Panamanian and Argentine colleagues will enable bilingual websites, presentations and new programs to help transfer results to local people, managers, decision-makers, and scientific colleagues by digital, printed and oral means.