U.S.-Mexico Second International Symposium-Workshop on Frugivores and Seed Dispersal; Veracruz, Mexico, June 3-6, 1991

该奖项将支持于1991年6月3日至6日在墨西哥韦拉克鲁斯州“洛斯图克斯特拉斯”生物基地举行的第二次关于食果动物和种子传播的国际讲习班。讲习班由迈阿密大学的Theodore Fleming教授和墨西哥韦拉克鲁斯州墨西哥自治大学生物研究所的Alejandro Estrada教授组织。该活动将包括口头报告、海报会议、参与者之间的非正式讨论以及对Los Tuxtlas雨林的探索。预期的结果是一本由研讨会上发表的经过编辑的论文和美国和拉丁美洲生态学家之间潜在的合作组成的书。与五年前的情况一样，会议的主题——水果、食果动物和种子传播——是一个主要的生态问题，因为它们对物种丰富的热带和亚热带陆地栖息地的保护具有重要意义。在这些栖息地，许多植物结出肉质的果实，并依靠以果实为食的脊椎动物来传播种子。这种相互作用是非常复杂的，食果脊椎动物在维持热带和亚热带森林结构和多样性中所起的最终作用尚不清楚。定期评估在这一领域所取得的进展是至关重要的，以便可以采取新的办法和拟订保护建议。知名研究人员和研究生之间的个人接触是最大限度地提高这一领域进展速度的一种方式。

This award will support a second international workshop on frugivores and seed dispersal to be held at the Estacion Biologica "Los Tuxtlas" in Veracruz state, Mexico on June 3- 6, 1991. The workshop is being organized by Prof. Theodore Fleming of the University of Miami and Prof. Alejandro Estrada of the Instituto de Biologia of the Universidad Autonoma de Mexico in Veracruz, Mexico. The activity will consist of oral presentations, posters sessions, informal discussions between participants, and explorations of the rain forest at Los Tuxtlas. Expected outcomes are a book consisting of the edited papers given at the workshop and potential collaborations between U.S. and Latin American ecologists. As was the case five years ago, the topics of the conference- -fruits, frugivores, and seed dispersal--are of major ecological concern because they bear importantly on the conservation of species-rich tropical and subtropical terrestrial habitats. In these habitats, many plants produce fleshy fruits and depend on fruit-eating vertebrates to disperse their seeds. This mutualistic interaction is very complex and the ultimate role played by frugivorous vertebrates in maintaining the structure and diversity of tropical and subtropical forests is not yet clear. Periodic assessment of the progress being made in this field is critical so that new approaches can be initiated and conservation recom- mendations formulated. Personal contacts among established researchers and graduate students is one way in which the rate of progress in this field can be maximized.