Research Trailer Acquisition for Quail Ridge Reserve

加州大学戴维斯分校获得了一笔赠款，用于购买一个自给自足的移动实验室，部署在位于加利福尼亚州纳帕县的加州大学戴维斯自然保护区系统的一个占地2000英亩的单位--鹌鹑岭保护区。该实验室将是一个有三个房间的通用设施。大的中央房间将容纳工作高度的台面、办公桌空间、通风柜、水槽和储藏室；两个外围房间将可用于动物饲养和行为测试。灯光和气候控制将是可编程的；环境状况将通过连接到保护区的自动化系统进行监测？S无线通信网络，一旦出现技术问题，立即向保护区工作人员发出警报。该实验室将适用于对捕获的动物进行处理、麻醉、标记、持有和进行行为实验。一个单独的移动发电机组将为实验室提供电力，同时将实验室内可能给动物带来压力和扰乱自然行为的噪音降至最低。水和废水存储将被整合到该单元中。鹌鹑岭保护区拥有在动物遗传学和行为以及植物生理学方面的多项积极研究活动，这些活动将直接和立即从该设施中受益。其他由美国国家科学基金会赞助的项目，比如自动动物跟踪系统(其硬件已经完成，软件正在完善)，将严重依赖实验室作为标记或利用动物的场所，或者进行与该系统一起使用的发射器的外科植入。这个独特的自动化系统将通过远程跟踪小动物的位置和生理条件，改变对小动物运动、分散和对应激源的反应的理解。新设施将促进现有网络基础设施的新用途，将实验室实现的研究连接到远程门户网站，如教室和私人电脑，通过正在进行的“环境虚拟博物馆”倡议。公民科学家和课后项目将能够观看行为试验，并最终从他们的计算机上近乎实时地跟踪动物的运动。该实验室也将被来自高等教育机构的讲师使用，这些机构目前使用该储备，主要为少数族裔服务。正在进行的与国际调查人员和实习生的合作也将受益。联合使用实验室设施和动物跟踪系统的结果将加强对动物运动和栖息地使用的了解，从而为栖息地保护和养护决策提供信息。

The University of California-Davis is awarded a grant to acquire a self-contained mobile laboratory for deployment at Quail Ridge Reserve, a 2000-acre unit of the University of California-Davis Natural Reserve System located in Napa County, California. The laboratory will be a three-room, general purpose facility. The large central room will house work-height countertops, desk space, a fume hood, sink and storage; two peripheral rooms will be available for use in animal holding and for behavioral trials. Lighting and climate control will be programmable; environmental conditions will be monitored by an automatic system linked to the reserve?s wireless communication network, alerting reserve staff immediately of any technical problems. The lab will be appropriate for processing, anesthetizing, tagging, holding, and conducting behavioral experiments on captured animals. A separate mobile generator unit will provide power to the laboratory, while minimizing noise inside the laboratory that could stress animals and disrupt natural behaviors. Water and waste water storage will be integrated into the unit.Quail Ridge Reserve hosts multiple active research initiatives in animal genetics and behavior, as well as in plant physiology, that will directly and immediately benefit from the facility. Other NSF-sponsored initiatives, like the Quail Ridge automated animal tracking system (for which hardware is completed and software is in refinement), will rely heavily on the laboratory as a site for tagging or harnessing animals, or for performing surgical implants of transmitters for use with the system. This unique automatic system is poised to transform understanding of small animal movements, dispersal, and response to stressors by remotely tracking their locations and physiological conditions.The new facility will promote novel uses of the existing cyber-infrastructure linking research enabled by the lab to remote portals, such as classroom and private computers via an ongoing 'virtual museum of the environment' initiative. Citizen scientists and after-school programs will be able to watch behavioral trials and eventually track the movement of animals from their computers in near real time. The lab will also be used by instructors from institutions of higher education that currently use the reserve and are largely minority-serving. On-going collaborations with international investigators and interns will benefit as well. Results from combined use of the lab facility and the animal tracking system will enhance understanding of animal movement and habitat use, thus informing habitat protection and conservation decisions.