IRES Track II - Cape Horn ASIs: Climate change and disease ecology at the southern end of the Americas

地球上超过60%的无冰区被最好地描述为人类改造的人为生物群落。这意味着原始地区是稀缺的，而且大多数生态学研究实际上是对生态系统的人为影响的研究。然而，对原始系统的研究对于建立对生态功能的基本理解是必要的，这样我们就可以应用这种理解来制定有意义和适当的保护计划，甚至知道哪些应用研究问题值得追求。不幸的是，原始系统非常珍贵。一般来说，研究生没有机会在原始或接近原始的生态系统下发展他们的生态理解。此外，美国国家科学、工程和医学院的数据表明，目前的STEM研究生培训可能无法提供定量实验设计方面的严格教育。定量实验设计是设计研究着眼于统计分析，将用于分析数据。使用植根于健全生态理论的定量设计原则，可以确保研究人员提出相关的、可测试的问题，从而得出有意义的结果。这是研究生教育和研究人员专业发展的一个关键组成部分，因为它确保日益稀缺的研究资金不会被浪费。此外，合作正在成为研究中的常态，甚至在当前大流行之前，通过电子媒体进行的国际合作就变得越来越普遍。在这个IRES Track II项目中，学生将有机会接受定量实验设计方面的培训，并作为多国研究合作的一部分，研究传染病在地球上为数不多的原始地区之一的出现。位于南美洲南端的合恩角生物圈保护区（CHBR）保护着原始的生态系统，非常适合这种类型的研究生培训。CHBR是亚南极麦哲伦生态区的一部分，该生态区具有全球意义，因为它拥有世界上最南端的森林生物群系，包含许多特有物种，地处偏远，相对没有人为影响。此外，除了几年前才出现的禽疟疾外，该系统相对没有人畜共患疾病。使该地区成为一个活生生的实验室，以研究与人类发现和定居共同发生的生态系统转变。该项目将吸引来自美国各地的研究生与来自马哲伦大学（UMAG）和智利生态与生物多样性研究所（IEB）的智利学生以及来自美国和智利各地的多元化教师组成国际合作团队。该计划的重点将是为研究生提供定量实验设计和国际合作方面的强大实践培训。研究问题本身将是灵活的，但组织主题。具体而言，IRES Track-II将侧重于使用移动下一代测序实验室与雾网和节肢动物诱捕相结合的分子遗传分析，以研究野生动物疾病对当地生物多样性和群落结构的影响。其次，eDNA和传统的野生动物疾病监测方法将用于了解人畜共患病的可能性，并了解导致或抑制人畜共患病的生态因素。因此，参与该计划将有助于培养下一代科学家，使他们具备对生态学、保护和野生动物疾病生态学研究做出有意义贡献所需的技能。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Over sixty percent of Earth’s ice-free areas are best described as human-modified anthropogenic biomes. This means that pristine areas are scarce, and that most ecological studies are de facto studies of anthropogenic impacts on ecological systems. However, the study of pristine systems is necessary for developing a baseline understanding of ecological function so that we can apply this understanding to develop meaningful and appropriate conservation plans, or even know what applied research questions are worth pursuing. Unfortunately, pristine systems are at a premium. In general, graduate students do not have the opportunity to develop their ecological understanding under pristine or near pristine ecological systems. In addition, the National Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine data suggest that current STEM graduate student training may not be providing a rigorous education in quantitative experimental design. Quantitative experimental design is designing studies with an eye toward the statistical analyses that will be used to analyze the data. Using quantitative design principles, rooted in sound ecological theory, ensures that researchers are asking relevant and testable questions that will lead to meaningful results. This is a crucial component of graduate student education and researcher professional development, as it ensures that increasingly scarce research funding are not wasted Additionally, collaboration is becoming the norm in research, and international collaboration via electronic media was becoming increasingly common even before the current pandemic. In this IRES Track II project, students will have the opportunity to be trained in quantitative experimental design and work as part of a multinational research collaboration to study infectious disease emergence in one of the few remaining pristine places on Earth. The Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve (CHBR) off the southern tip of South America protects pristine ecosystem is perfect for this type of graduate student training. The CHBR is part of the sub-Antarctic Magellanic ecoregion, which is globally significant because it houses the worlds southernmost forest biome, contains numerous endemic species, is remote, and is relatively free of anthropogenic impacts. In addition, with the exception of Avian Malaria which arrived just a few years ago, the system is relatively free of zoonotic diseases. Making the region a living laboratory to study the ecosystem transformations that co-occur with human discovery and settlement of an area. The program will bring graduate students from across the US to work in international collaborative teams with Chilean students from the Universidad de Magallanes (UMAG) and the Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity (IEB) in Chile, and a diverse group of faculty from across the US and Chile. The focus of the program will to be provide graduate students robust and hands-on training in quantitative experimental design and international collaboration resulting in publications. The research questions themselves will be flexible, but organized thematically. Specifically, this IRES Track-II will focus on the merging molecular genetic analysis using a mobile next generation sequencing lab with mist netting and arthropod trapping to investigate the impacts of wildlife disease on local biodiversity and community structure. Secondarily, eDNA and traditional wildlife disease monitoring approaches will be applied to understand the potential for zoonosis and understanding ecological factors that contribute to, or inhibit, zoonosis. Resultantly, participation in this program will help train the next generation of scientists with the skills needed to make meaningful contributions to the study of ecology, conservation, and wildlife disease ecology.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.