US-Botswana Planning Visit: Nutrient, Hydrologic, and Physiological Controls on Belowground Productivity and Carbon Sequestration in Kalahari Savanna Ecosystems

Okin 0536910该奖项支持弗吉尼亚大学的一组科学家的计划访问，他们将拜访博茨瓦纳Harry Oppenheimer Okavango研究中心的Susan RingRose博士和其他研究伙伴，计划一个研究非洲稀树草原根系功能和碳固定的项目。热带草原覆盖了地球表面20%的面积，它们代表着重要的碳源或碳汇，这取决于它们的管理方式。计划中的研究项目将探索南部非洲热带大草原树根的分布，它们在水分和养分运输中的作用，以及它们对地上和地下碳封存的控制。在规划访问期间，将评估挖掘根系和使用稳定同位素和树液流量计确定根系功能的技术。研究将与博茨瓦纳研究人员合作进行，他们将是该项目的全面智力合作伙伴，提供该地区的专业科学知识。计划访问的另一个组成部分是计划一个互动学习部分，弗吉尼亚州和博茨瓦纳的高中生将进行简化的实地研究，并使用互联网和远程教育技术比较他们对比的生态系统的结果。这次计划访问将加强美国和博茨瓦纳科学家之间的合作研究，并为美国研究生提供国际研究经验，他们将在博茨瓦纳停留更长时间收集初步数据。随后的研究项目可以通过为美国本科生、研究生和高中教师提供国际实地经验，在几个层面上加强美国的教育。合作研究和教育部分还将通过促进国际交流和弥合地理和文化鸿沟来产生更广泛的社会影响。该奖项由环境生物学司共同资助。

Okin 0536910This award supports a planning visit by a team of scientists from the University of Virginia who will visit Dr. Susan Ringrose and other research partners at the Harry Oppenheimer Okavango Research Centre in Botswana to plan a project that examines root system function and carbon sequestration in African savannas. Savannas cover 20% of the earth's surface and represent significant carbon sources or carbon sinks, depending on how they are managed. The planned research project will explore the distribution of tree roots in Southern African savannas, their role in water and nutrient transport, and their controls on above-ground and below-ground carbon sequestration. During the planning visit, techniques for excavating roots and determining root function using stable isotopes and sap flow meters will be evaluated. Research will be performed in collaboration with Botswana researchers who will be full intellectual partners in the project, providing expert scientific knowledge of the region. An additional component of the planning visit is to plan an interactive learning component in which Virginia and Botswana high school students would perform simplified field research and compare findings from their contrasting ecosystems using internet and tele-education technologies.This planning visit will strengthen collaborative research between US and Botswanan scientists and provide an international research experience for a US graduate student, who will stay longer in Botswana to collect preliminary data. The subsequent research project could enhance U.S. education at several levels by offering international field experience for U.S. undergraduate and graduate students and high school teachers. The collaborative research and education components will also provide broader societal impacts by stimulating international communication and bridging geographic and cultural divides.This award is co-funded by the Division of Environmental Biology.