Dimensions IRCN: Diversity and Forest Change: Characterizing functional, phylogenetic and genetic contributions to diversity gradients and dynamics in tree communities

维度 IRCN：多样性和森林变化：表征功能、系统发育和遗传对树木群落多样性梯度和动态的贡献

• 批准号: 1354741
• 负责人: Stuart Davies
• 金额: $ 44.3万
• 依托单位: Smithsonian Institution
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2013-04-30 至 2016-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1354741&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Dimensions; IRCN; Diversity; Forest; Change

This project will establish an international research coordination network that combines two existing forest networks in the United States with a set of forest plots in China, to advance understanding of how tree biodiversity determines the functional aspects of forests, and to test hypotheses concerning the resilience of forests to global change. Together these networks maintain 24 large-scale forest plots in tropical and temperate forests in Asia and the Americas, providing data on the demography, functional traits, phylogenetic relatedness and environmental preferences of thousands of tree species. Through a series of symposia, analytical workshops and international scientific exchanges, these data will be used to ask: what functional traits underlie species distributions across environmental gradients; how functional traits and phylogenetic relatedness of communities link to forest function; how functional traits and environmental tolerances vary among individuals within species; and how gene flow contributes to genetic diversity at local and regional scales. By combining long-term temperate and tropical forest studies across entire tree communities, this project will parameterize models that incorporate functional and genetic variation among species, to test predictions about current and future changes in forests. An ultimate goal is to develop detailed models of forest composition and its genetic and functional basis, to be simulated over a range of climatic predictions. This integration across multiple dimensions of biodiversity will enhance understanding of how forests are structured, a critical step towards predicting how forests will respond to global change.This project will implement a series of capacity building and training initiatives to expand science and enhance collaboration between the United States and China. The strengthening of the network of forest research plots in Asia and the Americas will provide information crucial to determining the role of forests in a changing global environment. This project will engage numerous graduate students and early-career scientists in interdisciplinary training on taxonomic, functional and genetic dimensions of biodiversity and ecosystem processes. An exchange program will enable students and early-career researchers from the United States to spend 3 months in collaborating institutions in China. Chinese scientists will have similar opportunities in the United States through parallel funding provided by NSF-China. In addition, the scientific workshops will result in the development of new analytical tools and data compilations that will be made openly available through the web.

该项目将建立一个国际研究协调网络，将美国现有的两个森林网络与中国的一组森林地块结合起来，以促进对树木生物多样性如何决定森林功能方面的理解，并检验有关森林对全球变化的适应能力的假设。 这些网络在亚洲和美洲的热带和温带森林中共有24个大规模的林地，提供了关于数千个树种的人口统计、功能特征、系统发育相关性和环境偏好的数据。 通过一系列专题讨论会、分析讲习班和国际科学交流，这些数据将被用来研究：物种在不同环境梯度上分布的基础是什么样的功能特征;群落的功能特征和系统发育关系如何与森林功能联系起来;物种内个体之间的功能特征和环境耐受性如何变化;基因流动如何在地方和区域范围内促进遗传多样性。 通过结合对整个树木群落的长期温带和热带森林研究，该项目将对纳入物种间功能和遗传变异的模型进行参数化，以测试对森林当前和未来变化的预测。 一个最终目标是发展详细的森林组成及其遗传和功能基础模型，在一系列气候预测中进行模拟。 该项目将实施一系列能力建设和培训计划，以扩大科学研究领域，加强中美两国之间的合作。加强亚洲和美洲的森林研究地块网络将为确定森林在不断变化的全球环境中的作用提供至关重要的信息。 该项目将吸引众多研究生和早期职业科学家参加生物多样性和生态系统过程的分类、功能和遗传方面的跨学科培训。 一个交流项目将使来自美国的学生和早期职业研究人员在中国的合作机构度过3个月。 中国科学家将通过NSF-中国提供的平行资助在美国获得类似的机会。 此外，科学讲习班将导致开发新的分析工具和数据汇编，并将通过网络公开提供。