Integrating Biodiversity and Biogeochemical Dynamics from a Hydrodynamics Perspective: Long-Term Ecological Research in the Luquillo Mountains

Luquillo长期生态研究项目对热带山地森林生物多样性动态和生物地球化学循环的环境驱动因素进行了超过28年的研究。这项建议为规划会议提供资金，使项目参与者聚集在一起，发展未来的研究方向，这些研究方向源于对其长期数据的综合，受到与生态理论的密切联系的推动，并广泛适用于其他热带、森林和山地地区。由此产生的研究议程将广泛适用于LTER站点，因为它将涵盖生态系统，包括原始和高度城市化和郊区化栖息地的复杂混合物。第二个目标将是设计研究，以了解由土地利用和气候变化主导的干扰制度下的生态动力学。拟议的规划会议将包括研究生和博士后研究人员以及研究科学家和信息管理人员。让早期职业学生和研究人员参与研究设计和提案开发的过程是综合教育和培训的一个重要方面。学生将从代表性不足的群体中招募，这些群体在波多黎各有大量代表。从长远来看，开发的研究方向将加强Luquillo森林与波多黎各其他主要项目（如NEON， STREON， IGERT， CZO和ULTRA-Ex）的联系。此外，该项目的校园项目通过实地调查和基于网络的中学课程，惠及教师和数百名初高中学生。

The Luquillo Long Term Ecological Research project has examined environmental drivers of biodiversity dynamics and biogeochemical cyles in a tropical, montane forest for over 28 years. This proposal funds planning meetings to bring project participants together to develop future research directions that arise from syntheses of their long-term data, are motivated by strong linkages to ecological theory, and that are widely applicable to other tropical, forested, montane regions. The resulting research agenda will be broadly applicable across LTER sites as it will encompass ecosystems that include a complex mixture of pristine and highly urbanized and suburbanized habitats. A second goal will be to design research to understand ecological dynamics in light of disturbance regimes that are dominated by changes in both land use and climate. The proposed planning meetings will include graduate students and postdoctoral researchers together with research scientists and information managers. Engaging early-career students and researchers in the process of research design and proposal development is an important aspect of comprehensive education and training. Students will be recruited from under-represented groups, which are abundantly represented in Puerto Rico. Over a longer term, the research directions developed will strengthen the Luquillo Forest's connections with other major projects in Puerto Rico, such as NEON, STREON, IGERT, CZO, and ULTRA-Ex. Moreover, the project's Schoolyard program reaches teachers and hundreds of middle and high school students through field research and web-based middle school curricula.