CNH-Ex: Water Quality and Environmental Health in Botswana: Coupled Dynamics in a Water-Scarce Environment

季节性变化强烈的受水限制的环境极易受到景观变化和人类活动污染的影响。越来越多的人认识到，有限水资源的退化是世界大部分地区，特别是非洲面临的一个重要而紧迫的问题。这项研究项目将评估影响博茨瓦纳乔贝河地区水质以及人和动物种群健康的人类和生态驱动因素。研究人员将使用大肠杆菌作为模式微生物，追踪乔贝河与系统中不同的野生动物、家畜和人类营养协会之间的传播联系。研究人员将使用现场样本校准的预测模型，调查气候变化的长期影响；水文的季节性变化；人口的增加；以及景观修改对水质和人类和动物健康的影响。该项目将确定人-自然系统耦合影响水质的高风险环境的标志，形成一个可供社区和政府用来改进备灾和干预的预警系统的基础。该项目将教育和政府宣传纳入一种研究方法，目的是更具预测性和根本性地了解社会变化和发展的耦合动力对水质和健康的当前和未来影响，以及气候变化对这些相互作用的潜在长期影响。该研究项目建立了多学科科学网络和国际伙伴关系。该项目将支持美国和博茨瓦纳之间的研究生培训计划，该计划与针对生活在研究区的博茨瓦纳青年的多方面外联计划相结合。这种方法将加强跨文化理解和在科学发现方面的少数人领导能力。这项研究承诺通过将研究成果转化为发展政策而直接造福社会，这将促进人类赖以生存的可持续生态系统。该项目的成果将促进我们对人-自然耦合系统及其对人类、牲畜和野生动物的水质和健康的影响的理解。

Water-restricted environments that experience strong seasonal variation are extremely vulnerable to landscape alteration and pollution from human activities. Increasingly, degradation of limited water resources is identified as an important and urgent problem facing much of the world, in particular Africa. This research project will evaluate coupled human and ecological drivers influencing water quality, and the health of human and animal populations in the Chobe River Region of Botswana. The investigators will use Escherichia coli as a model microorganism to track transmission linkages between the Chobe River and different trophic guilds of wildlife, domestic animals, and humans in the system. Using predictive models calibrated with field samples the researchers will investigate long-term effects of climatic changes; seasonal variation in hydrology; increases in human population; and landscape modification impacts on water quality and human and animal health. This project will identify markers of high-risk environments where coupled human-natural systems influence water quality, forming the foundation of an early-warning system that can be used by communities and governments to improve preparedness and interventions. This project integrates educational and government outreach into a research approach, which aims to develop a more predictive and fundamental understanding of the present and future impact of coupled dynamics of societal change and development on water quality and health and the potential long-term influence of climate change on these interactions. This research project establishes multidisciplinary scientific networks and international partnerships. The project will support a graduate student-training program between the USA and Botswana, which is integrated with a multifaceted outreach program directed at Botswana youth living in the study area. This approach will strengthen cross-cultural understanding and minority-leadership capacity in scientific discovery. This study promises direct benefits to society through the translation of research findings into developmental policy that will promote the sustainability ecosystems on which human populations depend. Results from this project will advance our understanding of coupled human-natural systems and the influence this has on water quality and health for humans, livestock, and wildlife.