Center for Applied Tropical Ecology and Conservation: Biodiversity Conservation Under the Scenario of Climate Change

波多黎各大学里约热内卢分校(UPR-RP)正在通过第二阶段的CREST支持更新其应用热带生态学中心(CATEC)。在为拉美裔少数群体服务的机构中，CATEC是系统变革、教育、研究发展和结构性体制变革的催化剂。CATEC的使命是促进a)研究生、本科生和博士后水平的人力资源培训，b)保护生物学和环境问题的最新研究，c)基础设施改善，以及d)为政策和保护管理产生相关成果。CATEC的统一主题是在气候变化的框架下保护生物多样性。分子生态、进化和遗传学(MEEG)领域将利用分子标记解决保护问题，以了解波多黎各和加勒比地区的系统发育、遗传多样性的空间分布和物种相互作用。物种和种群管理(SPM)领域将侧重于外来物种和本地物种之间相互作用的影响，以及了解濒危物种和具有经济重要性的物种的区域多样化和分布模式。生态系统进程(EP)领域将通过比较古气候变化的影响与气候的时间和空间变化的影响以及土地利用的历史人为变化对生态系统结构和功能的影响，解决陆地和海洋物种如何应对气候变化的问题。

The University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus (UPR-RP) is renewing its Center for Applied Tropical Ecology (CATEC) via Phase II CREST support. CATEC serves as a catalyst for systemic change ineducational, research development and structural institutional transformation in a Hispanic minorityserving institution. CATEC's mission is to promote a) training of human resources at the graduate,undergraduate and post-doctoral levels, b) state-of-the-art research in conservation biology andenvironmental issues, c) infrastructure improvement, and d) production of relevant results for policy andconservation management. The unifying theme of CATEC is biodiversity conservation under thescenario of climate change. The Molecular Ecology, Evolution and Genetics (MEEG) area will addressconservation issues using molecular markers to understand the phylogeny, the spatial distribution ofgenetic diversity, and species interactions in the Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. The Species andPopulation Management (SPM) area will focus on impact of interactions between exotic and nativespecies, and understanding patterns of regional diversification and distribution of endangered species andspecies of economic importance. The Ecosystem Processes (EP) area will address the question of howspecies, both terrestrial and marine, respond to climate variability, by comparing the effect of paleoclimaticchange with the impact of temporal and spatial variation in climate as well as historicalanthropogenic changes in land use on ecosystem structure and function.