US-Brazil Cooperative Research: Land Use Implications on the Net Ecosystem Production and Energy Balance of Tropical Forest Ecosystem

Vourlitis 0003778美国-巴西奖为加州州立大学圣马科斯分校的乔治·沃里蒂斯博士和巴西库亚巴的马托格罗索联邦大学的尼古拉·普里安特·菲略博士之间的合作研究提供了国际项目部的支持。 他们将研究土地使用对热带森林生态系统的净生态系统生产力和能量平衡的影响，该项目将建立在两个机构之间的现有合作基础上，以测量亚马逊热带过渡森林的净生态系统生产力。NEP是指森林通过总初级生产力吸收大气中的CO2，减去通过植物和土壤呼吸而损失到大气中的生态系统CO2。 他们一直在测量巴西cerradao（热带季节性森林）的净生产率，现在将增加对牧牛场的测量，这是亚马逊河流域南部土地覆盖变化的主要形式。 迫切需要了解热带陆地生态系统在全球二氧化碳平衡中的作用。 这项研究将填补我们对热带生态系统碳循环理解的空白。 PI将测量马托格罗索州北方成熟、完整的塞拉道和牛牧场的NEP。 然后，他们将把NEP和小气候的测量结果与一个基于过程的模型联系起来，以评估土地覆盖变化对NEP的季节性和年际速率和模式的影响。除了对这一研究领域的好处外，该项目还将包括培训双方的年轻研究人员，使他们接触新的研究方法和技术。

Vourlitis0003778This U.S.-Brazil award provides support from the Division of International Programs for a cooperative research between Dr. George Vourlitis, California State University, San Marcos, and Dr. Nicolau Priante Filho at Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, in Cuiaba, Brazil. They will study the land use implications on the net ecosystem production and energy balance of tropical forest ecosystem.This project will build upon an existing collaboration between the two institutions to measure the net ecosystem production (NEP) of Amazonian tropical transitional forest. NEP is the forest assimilation of atmospheric CO2 through gross primary production minus ecosystem CO2 loss to the atmosphere by plant and soil respiration. They have been measuring the NEP of Brazilian cerradao (the tropical seasonal forest) and will now add the measurement of cattle pasture, which is the dominant form of land cover change in southern Amazonia. There is an urgent need to understand the role of tropical terrestrial ecosystems in the global CO2 balance. This research will fill in a gap in our understanding of tropical ecosystem carbon cycling. The PIs will measure the NEP of mature, intact cerradao and cattle pasture of northern Mato Grosso. They will then link measurements of NEP and microclimate to a process-based model to assess the implications of land cover change on the seasonal and interannual rates and patterns of NEP.Besides the benefit to this area of research, this project will include the training of young researchers on both sides, exposing them to new research methods and technology.