PostDoctoral Research Fellowship

这项国家科学基金会少数民族博士后奖学金将研究土地利用对秘鲁Río阿比塞奥国家公园热带山地森林恢复的影响和生态限制。在这里，几个世纪以来的牲畜放牧和焚烧，为改良放牧而引进的非洲外来牧草，以及温度的变化，导致了森林-草地边界的进退交错。然而，在整个景观中，控制森林-草过渡带位置的机制仍然知之甚少。在本研究中，环境历史数据、自然更新监测观察结果和实验操作将一起用于验证假设，即在火灾和放牧排除的条件下，海拔和草物种相互作用，控制原生高山和外来基库尤人主导的草原的森林恢复速度和模式。通过调查这些瓶颈是否可以克服，该项目将揭示共同发生的生态过程在调节区域森林动态中的作用，从而揭示热带山区植被对气候变化的潜在响应。在地理与环境学系的Kenneth R. Young博士的资助下，她将在德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校进行研究。德克萨斯大学在拉丁美洲地理方面有很强的研究传统。内蒂·李·本森拉丁美洲收藏中心和植物资源中心都有来自秘鲁的重要材料。该研究员还将受益于进入东道国系的环境信息系统实验室。杨博士自20世纪80年代以来一直在秘鲁进行学术和咨询研究。他的研究重点是秘鲁的生物地理学、生态学和自然保护。S湿润东部山地森林在景观和气候变化的背景下。除了为草木植被转移提供理论支持外，该项目还将对保护区管理、恢复、气候变化和生态系统服务产生深远影响。秘鲁?湿润的山地森林，世界？美国主要的生物多样性热点地区，是安第斯-亚马逊盆地长期环境可持续性的组成部分。对推动公园内外当代资源利用的因素进行评估，将有助于重新评估该地区保护面临的威胁，并就土地利用和经济发展提出切实可行的政策建议。通过评价森林恢复最有希望的方法和物种，该项目将为土地管理者提供退化土地恢复的实用准则。实验操作将有可能表明物种对全球变暖的特定反应，以及这些森林和关键物种作为气候变化指标的适用性。最后，了解控制草原树木形成的因素对于评估生态系统服务（如水调节）对不同土地利用遗产的敏感性非常重要。培训的目的是为了提高奖学金获得者的能力。在土地利用和全球变化方面的专业知识，扩大研究员？了解实验方法，提高分析能力。首先，博士后培训将使研究员能够继续研究人为干扰对热带山地森林的影响，但在一个偏远地区，尽管它在世界范围内具有重要的保护意义，但却很少受到关注。第二，实地研究将使研究员能够设计和进行一套试验，以检验历史上土地利用对森林动态的影响。第三，从该项目获得的数据将为今后的研究提供基础，以比较墨西哥、秘鲁和其他类似环境中退化景观的森林恢复情况。除了提供创新和重要的研究贡献外，NSF少数民族博士后奖学金将提高Fellow？在大型研究机构获得终身教职的资格。

This National Science Foundation Minority Postdoctoral Fellowship will examine land use effects on, and ecological limits to, tropical montane forest recovery in Río Abiseo National Park, Peru. Here, centuries of livestock grazing and burning, introduction of exotic African grasses for improved pasturing, and temperature variation have resulted in a patchwork mosaic of advancing and receding forest-grassland boundaries. However, the mechanisms controlling forest-grass ecotone location across this landscape remain poorly understood. In this study, environmental history data, observations from natural regeneration monitoring, and experimental manipulations will together be used to test the hypothesis that under conditions of fire and grazing exclusion, elevation and grass species interact to control rates and patterns of forest recovery within native alpine and exotic kikuyu-dominated grasslands. By investigating whether or not these bottlenecks can be overcome, this project will reveal the role of co-occurring ecological processes in mediating regional forest dynamics, and hence potential vegetation response to climate variability, on tropical mountains.The Fellow will perform her research at the University of Texas at Austin, under the sponsorship of Dr. Kenneth R. Young in the Department of Geography & the Environment. The University of Texas has a strong research tradition in Latin American geography. It houses the Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection and Plant Resources Center, both with significant materials from Peru. The Fellow will also benefit from access to the Environmental Information Systems Laboratory in the host department. Dr. Young has conducted academic and consulting research in Peru since the 1980s. His research focuses on the biogeography, ecology, and conservation of Peru?s humid eastern montane forests in the context of landscape and climatic change. In addition to contributing to theory on grass-tree vegetation shifts, this project will have far-reaching implications for protected areas management, restoration, climate change, and ecosystem services. Peru?s humid montane forests, the world?s leading biodiversity hotspot, are integral to the long-term environmental sustainability of the Andean-Amazon basin. An assessment of the factors driving contemporary resource use within and outside the park will serve to re-evaluate threats to conservation in this region and to generate practical policy recommendations related to land use and economic development. By evaluating the most promising methods and species for forest restoration, this project will supply land managers with practical guidelines for degraded lands rehabilitation. Experimental manipulations will potentially indicate species-specific responses to global warming, as well as the suitability of these forests and key species as indicators of climate change. Lastly, an understanding of the factors controlling tree establishment in grasslands will be important for assessing the sensitivity of ecosystem services, such as water regulation, to distinct land-use legacies.The training objectives are to enhance the Fellow?s expertise in land use and global change, expand the Fellow?s knowledge of experimental methods, and improve her analytical skills. First, postdoctoral training will allow the Fellow to continue studying the influence of anthropogenic disturbance on tropical mountain forests, but in a remote region that has received little attention despite its worldwide conservation importance. Second, field research will allow the Fellow to design and conduct a suite of experiments needed to test historical land use effects on forest dynamics. Third, data acquired from this project will provide the foundation for future research comparing forest recovery across degraded landscapes in Mexico, Peru and similar environments elsewhere. In addition to providing innovative and important research contributions, an NSF Minority Postdoctoral Fellowship will improve the Fellow?s qualifications for a tenure track faculty appointment at a major research institution.