Collaborative Research: Understanding range limits and plant migration in response to climate change in Neotropical montane forests: moving from observational models to mechanisms

了解物种对气候变化的反应是生态学的核心问题之一。在过去的十年中，领导这个项目的研究人员将从亚马逊低地到安第斯树线的海拔梯度跨越3500米，作为研究森林和生态系统生态学的自然实验室。之前的工作记录了树木对气候变化的迁移，并预测了不同变化情景下物种范围的变化。这个项目现在将进一步调查树木生长变化的潜在原因。这组科学家将比较在安第斯山脉和亚马逊地区因气候变化而迁移的已知植物物种的生理特征，以及在原地不动的物种的生理特征，并测试温度、土壤、草食和真菌病原体等环境因素的重要性。研究结果将有助于了解树种可以在哪里生存，影响它们生长的因素，以及沿着环境梯度限制它们活动范围的因素。该项目将提高我们预测和模拟气候变化对自然系统的影响的能力，特别是对具有高度生物多样性的热带山地森林的影响。该项目的广泛影响包括一系列教育活动、资源和机会，旨在向K-12和大学生教授热带生态学和全球气候变化的影响；为国际学生和少数民族学生提供培训机会，帮助他们在自然科学领域接受高等教育和从事职业；向广大的科学和非专业受众传播成果，包括西班牙语翻译和资源版本。

Understanding species responses to climate change is one of the central problems in ecology. Over the last decade, the researchers who will lead this project have used the elevation gradient spanning 3500 m from the Amazonian lowlands to the Andean treeline as a natural laboratory for investigating forest and ecosystem ecology. That previous work has documented tree migration in response to climate change, and predicted changes in the ranges of species under different scenarios of change. This project will now go further to investigate the underlying causes of such changes in where trees grow. The researchers will compare the physiology of plant species known to be migrating in response to climate change in the Andes and Amazon with the physiology of species that are holding their ground, and test the importance of environmental factors such as temperature, soil, herbivory and fungal pathogens. The results will help understand where tree species can survive, what affects their growth, and what limits their range along environmental gradients. The project will increase our ability to predict and model the effects of climate change on natural systems, particularly tropical montane forests, which are areas of high biodiversity.The broader impacts of this project include a suite of educational activities, resources, and opportunities aimed at teaching K-12 and college students about tropical ecology and the effects of global climate change; training opportunities for international and minority students which will assist them in pursuing advanced education and careers in the natural sciences; and the dissemination of results to a broad scientific and lay audience, including Spanish translations and versions of resources.