OPUS: RUI: Ecological Roles of Forest Canopy Communities in a Tropical Montane Forest: Synthesis and Dissemination

哥斯达黎加蒙特韦尔德的森林树冠和森林生态系统研究20多年来，已经发表了60篇关于森林生态学、养分循环、野生动物生态学和全球气候变化的科学出版物。利用美国国家科学基金会资助的这个OPUS项目，将为科学家、学生和非科学家合成这一系列工作。将产生四个产品：1)关于树冠群落在云雾森林生态系统生态中的作用的综合评论；2)基于网络的森林树冠研究研究生课程；3)发布由美国国家科学基金会支持的树冠数据库项目的数据集；以及4)由加州大学出版社出版的畅销书《树木和人类》。这些活动将为关心热带云雾森林的科学家和土地管理者提供关键信息，热带云雾森林是地球上最濒危的栖息地之一。有关树冠群落的信息将以前所未有的方式与整个生态系统的生物群和过程数据相结合。这些数据的长期性质对于云林研究和树冠研究来说都是独一无二的，并将为这些复杂的系统提供新的见解。

Over two decades of forest canopy and forest ecosystem research in Monteverde, Costa Rica, has produced 60 scientific publications on forest ecology, nutrient cycling, wildlife ecology, and global climate change. Using NSF funding for this OPUS project, this body of work will be synthesized for scientists, students, and non-scientists. Four products will result: 1) synthetic reviews on the role of canopy communities in cloud forest ecosystem ecology; 2) a web-based graduate-level course in forest canopy studies; 3) posted datasets with the NSF-supported Canopy Database Project; and 4) a popular book called "Trees and Humans" to be published by the University of California Press. These activities will provide critical information for scientists and land managers concerned with tropical cloud forests, one of the most endangered habitats on earth. Information about canopy communities will be integrated with data on biota and processes of the whole ecosystems in an unprecedented manner. The long-term nature of the data is unique for both cloud forest studies and canopy research, and will provide new insights into these complex systems.