CNH-L: The Coupled Dynamics of Human-Dryland River Systems: Linkages and Feedbacks Between Human and Environmental Drivers of Water Quality and Human Health

对该项目的非技术性说明解释了该项目的重要性和重要性，并指出，水质下降和接触传染病增加，特别是引起腹泻的传染病，被认为是持续存在的全球健康威胁，尤其是在世界缺水地区。在这些干旱地区，河流泛滥平原对人类社区至关重要，但这些地区也极易受到人类影响。该项目将使用多学科研究方法来审查这些联系，以改进对腹泻疾病的管理和预报，特别是在脆弱的旱地系统。该项目将作为一个多学科教育计划的基础，该计划将加强对自然和人类系统耦合研究的跨文化理解和领导。这项研究通过开发知识和工具为社会带来直接好处，这些知识和工具将确定腹泻病风险增加和水质恶化的时期，使旱地地区的脆弱社区有足够的时间确定公共卫生准备。项目的技术说明本项目侧重于三个重要问题：(1)关于旱地河流过程和水质的耦合动力学以及人为和自然影响对病原体污染和健康的影响的基本知识；(2)影响水源性疾病动态和系统反馈的社会文化和经济变量；以及(3)监测系统变化指标和年度内预测能力的适当工具。该项目将使用跨越多个学科的先进传感、分子、微生物学和建模工具，研究南部非洲干旱河流泛滥平原的自然人类动态耦合。研究区域横跨纳米比亚和博茨瓦纳的部分地区，在该地区，人类腹泻疾病的暴发与河流过程和微生物水质动态有关。对这一旱地河流系统的经验研究将与腹泻病的环境和人类系统组成部分的动态模拟相结合。项目成果将：i)提供可靠的经验数据；ii)推进旱地河流、土壤微生物和社会经济理论及公共卫生政策；iii)产生通用工具，用于管理和预测全球其他旱地微生物水质与健康的耦合动态。

A non-technical description of the project that explains its significance and importanceDeclines in water quality and increased exposure to infectious disease, particularly those that cause diarrhea, are recognized as persistent global health threats, especially in water-scarce areas of the world. In these dry regions, river floodplains are critical for human communities, but these same areas are also extremely vulnerable to human impacts. This project will use a multidisciplinary research approach to examine these linkages in order to improve the management and forecasting of diarrheal disease in general and particularly in vulnerable dryland systems. The project will serve as a foundation for a multidisciplinary education program that will strengthen cross-cultural understanding and leadership in coupled natural and human systems research. This study brings direct benefits to society through the development of knowledge and tools that will identify periods of increased risk of diarrheal disease and degraded water quality allowing vulnerable communities in dryland regions sufficient lead time to identify public health preparedness.A technical description of the projectThis project focuses on three significant problems: (1) basic knowledge of the coupled dynamics of fluvial processes and water quality in drylands and the influence of anthropogenic and natural influences on pathogen pollution and health; (2) sociocultural and economic variables that influence waterborne disease dynamics and system feedbacks; and (3) appropriate tools to monitor indicators of system change and intra-annual forecasting ability. The project will examine the coupled natural human dynamics in dryland river floodplains in southern Africa by using advanced sensing, molecular, microbiological, and modeling tools that span multiple disciplines. The study area spans part of Namibia and Botswana in a region where human diarrheal disease outbreaks are coupled to fluvial processes and microbial water quality dynamics. Empirical studies of this dryland river system will be integrated with dynamical modeling of the environmental and human- system components of diarrheal disease. Project outcomes will: i) provide robust empirical data; ii) advance dryland fluvial, soil microbial, and socioeconomic theory and public health policy; and iii) produce generic tools for managing and forecasting the coupled dynamics of microbial water quality and health in other drylands globally.