RCN: Tropical Forests in a Changing World

全世界热带森林的变化是一个真实的紧迫问题。 许多这些变化都归因于明显的破坏性干预，如伐木和焚烧。 全球气候变化对热带森林的影响也有文献记载。 树木在炎热的年份生长得更慢，许多热带溪流在厄尔尼诺年的酸性更强。 有证据表明，还有其他因素也可能发挥重要作用。热带青蛙物种的灭绝可能是由于气候变化和对致命真菌疾病的易感性的复杂相互作用。 该项目的总体目标是建立一个由热带实地科学家组成的跨学科网络，利用长期数据集检验关于热带森林持续变化原因的假设。 网络会议和由此产生的研究将使该项目能够评估森林动态变化可能产生的影响，预测未来几十年的影响，并规划减少变化的破坏性影响的方法。该项目更广泛的重要性涉及热带环境的健康如何通过诸如蜱虫和蚊子等疾病媒介的传播以及作物授粉的中断等机制与整个地球的状况以及人类居民的健康和经济福祉相联系。 这一令人信服的科学重要性与网络活动中对K-12和成人学习团体的外联相结合，以促进更好地了解热带森林的变化如何具有世界性影响。

Changes in tropical forests worldwide are a real and urgent problem. Many of these changes are attributed to obvious destructive interventions such as logging and burning. The influences of global climate change on tropical forests have been documented also. Trees grow more slowly in hot years and many tropical streams are more acidic in El Niño years. Evidence suggests there are other factors that may play a significant role as well. Extinction of tropical frog species is probably due to a complex interaction of climate change and susceptibility to a fatal fungal disease. The overarching goal of this project is the creation of an interdisciplinary network of scientists from tropical field sites with long-term data sets to test hypotheses about the causes of ongoing changes in tropical forests. The network meetings and the resultant research will enable the project to evaluate the likely effects of changes in forest dynamics, project these impacts into future decades, and plan ways to lessen the destructive impact of the changes. The broader importance of this project concerns how the health of the tropical environment is connected to the condition of the entire planet and to the health and economic well-being of its human inhabitants through mechanisms such as the spread of disease vectors like ticks and mosquitoes and disruption of crop pollination. This compelling scientific importance is coupled with the integration of outreach to K-12 and adult learning groups in the network activities to facilitate greater understanding about how changes in tropical forests have world-wide implications.