Collaborative Research: IRES Track 1: Socio-ecological training in a tropical landscape

为了提高美国研究人员和学生建立国际合作的能力，IRES项目在厄瓜多尔提供跨学科的研究培训和文化丰富。该项目将在三年内培训24名美国本科生和研究生，重点招聘STEM领域中代表性不足的群体。为了调查居民在土地管理实践中的差异如何影响景观生态过程的完整性以及人类的健康和福祉，参与的学生将在国际经验之前、期间和之后通过美国和厄瓜多尔研究人员的密集指导，对分散的热带景观中的森林、鸟类和人进行实地研究，学生将在制定研究假设和研究设计、收集现场数据以及分析和传播研究结果方面进行培训，包括在同行评议的出版物中。该项目针对的是来自代表性不足群体的学生，该项目将有助于在加剧或改善土地管理做法对环境和人类健康影响的因素上增加想法和观点的多样性。将由美国学生进行的研究将在厄瓜多尔的乔科生物地理区进行，那里的当地管理方式从密集砍伐农业和牛，到为狩猎和可持续的收获活动保持高度的树木覆盖率。我们的总体假设是，该地区较高的树木覆盖率将有利于自然系统(通过促进以果实为食的脊椎动物的种子传播)和人类系统(通过改善粮食安全和减少热应力)。为了评估树木覆盖如何影响以水果为食的鸟类的多样性、丰富性和觅食，参与者将能够将卫星图像分析与通过雾网、无线电跟踪和果树观测收集的鸟类种群指标、运动模式和水果去除率的现场量化相结合。这些相互关联的方法可能会得到一项实验的补充，该实验将巢箱放置在一系列栖息地中，以确定巢穴的可用性是否限制了农业区的鸟类数量。鸟类种子传播数据也可以根据森林结构、海拔和热环境进行评估，以调查其对种子沉积和幼苗招募的影响。为了了解限制植物再生的因素，学生可以研究到达种子陷阱的种子的多样性和丰富性；种子密度、位置和分散种子的物种组成对幼苗生长、存活和人口统计学的影响；以及草食的影响。为了更好地了解树木覆盖如何与人类福祉相关，学生将研究森林覆盖在调节环境温度方面的作用，以及热环境如何直接(脱水、热应激)和间接(工作模式、食物安全)影响人类福祉。参与者还可以评估土地覆盖、性别和市场准入如何影响饮食模式和人类营养状况。这将涉及收集大量营养素和微量营养素摄入量的数据，以及成人和儿童的人体测量(身高、体重、周长和身体成分)。这项跨学科研究的结果预计将阐明将生物多样性整合到农业系统中可能会如何影响生态系统功能和人类健康，从而告知人口增长、森林砍伐增加和气候变暖可能如何影响我们的地球和社会。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

To enhance the ability of the United States researchers and students to establish international collaborations, this IRES program provides cross-disciplinary research training and cultural enrichment in Ecuador. Over three years, the project will train 24 U.S. undergraduate and graduate students, with a recruitment focus on underrepresented groups in STEM fields. In order to investigate how variation in land management practices by residents affects the integrity of landscape ecological processes, as well as human health and well-being, participating students will conduct field research on forests, birds, and people within a fragmented tropical landscape Through intensive mentoring by U.S. and Ecuadorian researchers before, during, and after the international experience, students will gain training in developing research hypotheses and study design, collecting field data, and analysis and dissemination of research findings, including in peer-reviewed publications. By targeting students from underrepresented groups, the project will help increase the diversity of ideas and perspectives on factors that either exacerbate, or ameliorate, the effects of land management practices on environmental and human health.The research to be undertaken by U.S. students will take place within Ecuador’s Chocó Biogeographic Zone, where local management styles range from intensive deforestation for agriculture and cattle to maintaining high tree cover for hunting and sustainable harvest activities.Our over-arching hypothesis is that higher tree cover in this landscape will benefit natural systems (via promoting seed dispersal by fruit-eating vertebrates) and human systems (by improving food security and reducing thermal stress). To evaluate how tree cover effects the diversity, abundance, and foraging of fruit-eating birds, participants will be able to combine satellite imagery analysis with field-based quantification of bird population metrics, movement patterns, and fruit removal rates collected via mist-netting, radio-tracking, and fruiting trees observations. These correlational approaches may be complemented by an experiment in which nest boxes are placed in a range of habitats to determine if the availability of nesting holes limit bird populations in agricultural areas. Avian seed-dispersal data can also be evaluated in relation to forest structure, elevation, and the thermic environment to investigate its effect on seed deposition and seedling recruitment. To understand factors limiting vegetative regeneration, students can study the diversity and abundance of seeds arriving in seed traps; the effects of seed density, location, and species composition of dispersed seeds on seedling growth, survival, and demography; and impacts of herbivory through field-based experiments.To better understand how tree cover relates to human well-being, students will investigate the role of forest cover in moderating ambient temperatures and how the thermal environment directly (dehydration, heat stress) and indirectly (work patterns, food security) influences human well-being. Participants can also evaluate how land cover, gender, and market access may influence dietary patterns and human nutritional status. This will involve data collection on macronutrient and micronutrient intakes as well as anthropometric measurements of adults and children (height, weight, circumferences, and body composition). Results from this interdisciplinary research are expected to elucidate how integration of biodiversity into agriculture systems may impact both ecosystem function and human health, thereby informing how growing human populations, increased deforestation, and a warming climate may affect our planet and society.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.