BE/CNH: Ecosystem Dynamics and Essential Human Needs: Developing an Interdisciplinary Research Agenda in the Plata Basin

INT 0119961美国科学促进会普拉塔盆地包括巴拉圭-巴拉那河系统和乌拉圭河系统；由阿根廷、玻利维亚、巴西、巴拉圭和乌拉圭共同拥有。这个庞大而复杂的河流系统具有高水平的生物多样性和人类利用，使其成为测试一种新的跨学科，多方利益相关者方法的理想地点，用于研究自然和人类系统的相互作用，以及规划可持续发展的替代战略。普拉塔盆地试点项目将侧重于扩大农业和畜牧业活动对生物地球化学循环、土地利用变化、生物多样性水平以及巴拉圭河和巴拉那河不断变化的水文循环的影响。利用反映土地利用变化的变量、社会经济数据和气候信息的计算机模型将被用来更好地了解巴拉圭河和巴拉那河在未来50年洪水周期的后果。将于2002年3月在阿根廷举行一次两届规划讲习班，为普拉塔盆地制定一项研究议程。研讨会将包括来自普拉塔盆地国家的主要政治、工业和当地社区利益相关者，以及来自该地区和美国的研究人员。规划研讨会将寻求评估普拉塔盆地农业边界扩张的程度、速度和影响。它还将建立一个长期的跨学科研究议程，并将评估将利益相关者的投入纳入适当模型的方法。美国科学促进会将在一个网站上发布相关论文和研讨会成果，并将包括互动功能，以促进对自然系统与人类系统之间相互作用感兴趣的科学界成员之间的对话和数据交换。该项目是2001年度环境生物复杂性特别竞赛颁发的奖项，重点关注自然和人类系统耦合的动力学。

INT 0119961Ratchford, Marina S.American Association for Advancement of ScienceThe Plata Basin comprises the Paraguay-Parana rivers system and the Uruguay river system; it is shared by Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. This large and complex river system has high levels of biodiversity and human use, making it an ideal location to test a novel interdisciplinary, multi-stakeholder approach for studying the interaction of natural and human systems as well as for planning alternative strategies of sustainable development. The Plata Basin pilot project will focus on the effects of expanding agricultural and cattle-raising activities on biogeochemical cycles, land-use change, levels of biodiversity, and the changing hydrological cycles of the Paraguay and Parana rivers. Computer-based models, using variables reflecting land-use changes, socio-economic data, and climatic information, will be used to better understand the consequences of the flooding cycles of the Paraguay and Parana rivers in the next fifty years.A two-session planning workshop will take place in Argentina in March 2002 to construct a research agenda for the Plata Basin. The workshop will include key political, industrial, and local community stakeholders from the Plata Basin countries, as well as researchers from the region and the U.S. The planning workshop will seek to assess the extent, rate, and impact of the expansion of the agrarian frontier in the Plata Basin. It will also establish a long-term, interdisciplinary research agenda and will evaluate methods of incorporating stakeholder input into appropriate models. A website, with the relevant papers and workshop outcomes will be posted by AAAS, and will include interactive functions to facilitate dialogue and data exchange between members of the scientific community interested in the interaction between natural and human systems. This project is an award emanating from the FY 2001 special competition in Biocomplexity in the Environment focusing on the Dynamics of Coupled Natural and Human Systems.