Japan-U.S. Collaborative Research on the Biocomplexity of Colloidal Systems in Aquatic Environments

本研究的目的是：i）在新环境研究计划的框架下，特别是在美国国家科学基金会（NSF）发起的“环境中的生物复杂性”计划的框架下，探讨日美合作的可能性; ii）就有机胶体在海洋碳循环中的作用进行合作研究。这一特定领域的“生物复杂性”研究探讨了海洋沃茨中形成大型有机碳池的机制，以促进我们对全球碳循环的理解。该计划的参与者在国际研讨会上交换了意见，“食物网动态和海洋环境中的地球化学？探索生物复合系统的新方法”（2001年12月在大津举行）。在这次研讨会上，出现了一些关于胶体-微生物相互作用和海洋生物地球化学的新概念。这些结果为日美研究团队的未来合作提供了新的方向，这种合作应该有助于开发新的多学科框架。

The purposes of this study were i) to investigate the possibility of the Japan-U.S. collaboration under the framework of new environmental research program, particularly in relation to the "Biocomplexity in the Environment" program launched by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and ii) to conduct a collaboration study on the role of organic colloids in oceanic carbon cycling. This particular area of "Biocomplexity" studies examine the mechanisms underlying the formation of a large organic cabon pool in oceanic waters in order to contribute to improvimg our understanding on global carbon cycles. Participants of this program exchanged ideas at the International Symposium "Food web dynamics and biogeochemistry in marine environments ? New approaches for exploring biocomplex systems" (held in Otsu in December 2001). At this symposium, several new concepts emerged regarding colloid-micoorganisms interactions and oceanic biogeochemistry. These results provide new directions on the future collaboration of Japan-U.S. research teams, and this collaboration should contribute to developing a new multidisciplinary framework on the science of the global environrnent.