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

受水限制的环境经历强烈的季节性变化，极易受到景观改变和人类活动污染的影响。有限水资源的退化日益被确定为世界许多地区、特别是非洲面临的一个重要和紧迫的问题。 该研究项目将评估影响水质的人类和生态驱动因素，以及博茨瓦纳乔贝河地区人类和动物种群的健康。 研究人员将使用大肠杆菌作为模型微生物来跟踪乔贝河与系统中野生动物，家畜和人类的不同营养集团之间的传播联系。 研究人员将使用经实地样本校准的预测模型，调查气候变化的长期影响;水文季节性变化;人口增加;景观改造对水质和人类及动物健康的影响。 该项目将确定高风险环境的标志，在这些环境中，人类-自然系统相互作用会影响水质，从而为社区和政府可用于改善备灾和干预措施的预警系统奠定基础。 该项目将教育和政府宣传纳入研究方法，旨在对社会变化和发展对水质和健康的耦合动态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形成更具预测性和根本性的理解。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地区的博茨瓦纳青年的多方面外展计划相结合。这种方法将加强跨文化理解和少数群体在科学发现方面的领导能力。这项研究通过将研究成果转化为发展政策，促进人类所依赖的生态系统的可持续性，从而为社会带来直接利益。 该项目的结果将促进我们对人类-自然系统耦合的理解，以及这对人类，牲畜和野生动物的水质和健康的影响。

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.