LTER: Sevilleta Long Term Ecological Research III: Long Term Ecological Research in a Biome Transition Zone

塞维利亚长期生态研究项目（LTER）成立于1988年，主要研究新墨西哥州中部生物群落过渡带的生态过程及其对气候动态的响应。主要的研究地点是塞维利亚国家野生动物保护区，由美国鱼类和野生动物管理局（FWS）管理。这个多学科研究小组由来自10所大学和众多研究机构的34名科学家组成，包括FWS、大自然保护协会、美国地质调查局、美国农业部林业局、美国农业部农业研究服务局、美国能源部洛斯阿拉莫斯国家实验室和美国能源部桑迪亚国家实验室。LTER计划的主要目标是开发和测试控制和限制生物群落在其分布边缘运动的分层模型。这些运动是大量非生物和生物变量之间复杂相互作用的结果，在广泛的空间尺度上，在几分钟到几个世纪的时间内发生。Sevilleta LTER模型和实验解决了主要控制变量的相对作用，并允许预测自然和人为扰动导致的生物群系过渡带结构和功能的变化。特别令人感兴趣的是水分有效性在推动C3和C4植物物种在十年时间框架内的分布扩张和收缩中的作用，以及由此导致的局部和景观级生态过程的变化。这些研究的结果将使人们更加了解控制新墨西哥中部主要生态系统动态的物理和生物过程、导致沙漠化过程的因素，并有助于增进对环境的了解和管理，促进可持续的人类利用和发展。

The Sevilleta Long-term Ecological Research (LTER) Program, established in 1988, conducts research on ecological processes and responses to climate dynamics in a biome transition zone in central New Mexico. The major research site is the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, operated by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). The multi-disciplinary research group comprises 34 scientists from 10 universities and numerous research agencies, including FWS, The Nature Conservancy, US Geological Survey, USDA Forest Service, USDA Agricultural Research Service, DOE Los Alamos National Laboratory, and DOE Sandia National Laboratory. The primary goal of the LTER Program is to develop and test a hierarchical model of controls and constraints on the movements of biotic assemblages at the edges of their distributions. These movements occur as a result of complex interactions among a large number of abiotic and biotic variables, at a wide range of spatial scales, and over time periods ranging from minutes to centuries. The Sevilleta LTER models and experiments address the relative roles of the major controlling variables, and allow prediction of changes in the structure and functioning of biome transition zones that would result from natural and anthropogenic perturbations. Of particular interest is the role of moisture availability in driving the distributional expansion and contraction of C3 and C4 plant species over decadal time frames, and the resulting changes in local and landscape level ecological processes. The results of these studies will provide a greater understanding of the physical and biological processes that govern the dynamics of the major ecosystems in central New Mexico, factors that lead to desertification processes, and contribute to improved understanding and management of the environment for sustainable human use and development.