NSF East Asia and Pacific Summer Institute (EAPSI) for FY 2013 in Japan

这一行动资助了德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校的乔治·利文斯顿于2013年夏天在日本筑波的国家环境研究所开展了一个生物科学研究项目。该项目的标题是“利用微观世界测试干扰对空间食物网的影响。”主办科学家是高村纪子和福森嘉子。该奖项实施了一项利用水生微生物微观世界来测试空间生态学理论的实验。该实验旨在测试扩散和干扰对物种与其最佳环境、食物网和生态系统功能之间匹配的综合影响。这是通过控制低扩散水平的景观中斑块被破坏的速度来实现的。人类正在极大地减少许多景观的连通性，导致食物网和授粉和害虫防治等生态系统服务的衰退和崩溃。这项实验将有助于提供景观水平食物网衰落的一般机制。EAPSI奖学金的更广泛影响包括为研究员提供美国以外的第一手研究经验；介绍各自所在地的科学、科学政策和科学基础设施；以及了解社会、文化和语言。这些活动符合NSF的目标，即在其科学家、工程师和教育工作者的职业生涯早期为国际合作进行教育，从而确保拥有一支具有全球意识的美国科学队伍。此外，该研究员将在日本的大学参加两次外展研讨会，并建立网络，以建立未来与主要东道主科学家以外的两个研究小组的合作。

This action funds George Livingston of The University of Texas at Austin to conduct a research project in Biological Sciences during the summer of 2013 at the National Institute for Environmental Studies in Tsukuba, Japan. The project title is "Using Microcosms to Test the Effect of Disturbance on Spatial Food Webs." The host scientists are Noriko Takamura and Kayoko Fukumori.This award implements an experiment testing spatial ecological theory using aquatic microbial microcosms. The experiment is aimed at testing the combined effects of dispersal and disturbance on the matching between species and their optimal environments, food webs, and ecosystem function. This is accomplished by manipulating the rate at which patches are destroyed in landscapes with low levels of dispersal. Humans are dramatically reducing connectivity in many landscapes, resulting in the decline and collapse of food webs and ecosystem services like pollination and pest control. This experiment will help provide general mechanisms for landscape-level food web decline. Broader impacts of an EAPSI fellowship include providing the Fellow a first-hand research experience outside the U.S.; an introduction to the science, science policy, and scientific infrastructure of the respective location; and an orientation to the society, culture and language. These activities meet the NSF goal to educate for international collaborations early in the career of its scientists, engineers, and educators, thus ensuring a globally aware U.S. scientific workforce. Furthermore, the Fellow will engage in two outreach seminars at universities in Japan and network to establish future collaborations with two research groups beyond the primary host scientists.