Doctoral Dissertation Research: Land-Cover Change and Carbon Sequestration under Diverse Land Management Regimes: Implications for Forest Protection and Restoration in Guatemala

景观是不断变化的土地使用和土地覆盖的复杂镶嵌体。这些动态具有重要的地方、区域和全球环境影响。这项研究的目的是了解土地利用/土地覆盖变化的动态在危地马拉直接参考不同的森林生态系统的土地管理制度。这项研究将更深入地了解热带森林的碳固存影响，以及不同土地管理类型保护和恢复森林的前景。将获取三个时期（1991/1993年、2001年、2006年）的卫星图像，以便对土地覆盖物进行分类并对地上生物量进行估计。森林测定数据将用于将卫星图像与热带干旱和热带潮湿生态系统中记录的森林结构联系起来。将与当地利益攸关方进行半结构化访谈，比较公共、私人和社区管理森林的管理制度，以评估每种土地管理类型对森林状况和地上生物量的相对影响。由于土地使用变化对碳平衡和全球碳循环构成重大威胁，正在提出建议，以补偿热带森林国家减少毁林和退化所致排放量（称为REDD）。这一努力为科学研究和制定国家和基于项目的REDD倡议提供了巨大的机会。该研究项目将能够评估异速生长方程和遥感在估计地上生物量方面的效用，这与REDD方案直接相关。 这项研究的更广泛影响在于它与当代国际政策和发展议程的相关性。在2007年12月于巴厘举行的联合国气候变化框架公约缔约方会议上，缔约方商定，减少森林砍伐和退化所致排放将纳入2012年后协定。危地马拉已经启动了一些方案，通过提供碳服务，协助当地农民和社区发展可持续土地管理做法。这项研究的结果将为不同土地管理制度下的森林碳提供有价值的数据，并将有助于为当地利益相关者制定碳抵消计划。作为博士论文研究改进奖，该奖项还将提供支持，使有前途的学生建立一个强大的独立的研究生涯。

Landscapes are complex mosaics of shifting land uses and land cover. Those dynamics have important local, regional, and global environmental implications. The objective of this research is to understand land-use/land-cover change dynamics in Guatemala with direct reference to land management regimes in diverse forest ecosystems. This research will develop a more thorough understanding of carbon sequestration implications of tropical forests and the prospect for different land management types to preserve and restore forests. Satellite imagery will be acquired for three periods (1991/93, 2001, 2006) to produce land cover classifications and estimates of aboveground biomass. Forest mensuration data will be used to relate satellite imagery to documented forest structure in tropical dry and tropical moist ecosystems. Semi-structured interviews will be conducted with local stakeholders to compare management regimes in public, private, and communally managed forests to assess the relative influence of each land management type on forest condition and aboveground biomass. Because land-use change poses a significant threat to the carbon balance and the global carbon cycle, proposals are being advanced to compensate tropical forest countries for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (known as REDD). This effort holds tremendous opportunities for both scientific research and development of national and project-based REDD initiatives. This research project will be able assess the utility of allometric equations and remote sensing to estimate aboveground biomass, which has direct relevance to the REDD programs. The broader impacts of this research lie in its relevance to the contemporary international policy and development agenda. At the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of the Parties that took place in Bali in December 2007, the parties agreed that reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation would be included in the post-2012 agreements. Programs have already been initiated in Guatemala to assist local farmers and communities in developing sustainable land management practices through the provision of carbon services. Findings from this research will provide valuable data on forest carbon under diverse land management regimes and will contribute to the development of carbon offset programs for local stakeholders. As a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement award, this award also will provide support to enable a promising student to establish a strong independent research career.