| 项目编号: | 1623775
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| 项目名称: | RAPID: The effect of an extreme El Nino event on tropical forest seedling regeneration |
| 作者: | Frank Jones
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| 承担单位: | Oregon State University
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| 批准年: | 2016
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| 开始日期: | 2016-03-15
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| 结束日期: | 2018-02-28
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| 资助金额: | 165000
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| 资助来源: | US-NSF
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| 项目类别: | Standard Grant
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| 国家: | US
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| 语种: | 英语
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| 特色学科分类: | Biological Sciences - Environmental Biology
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| 英文关键词: | forest
; el niño
; el niño event
; tropical forest
; project
; seedling
; panama
; species
; effect
; relative role
; tree
; dry forest
; tree seedling plot
; forest management
; net effect
; forest site
|
| 英文摘要: | This research will explore how trees in eight tropical forests respond to an El Niño event. The 2015-16 El Niño is among the three strongest since 1950. Strong El Niño events bring climate anomalies worldwide, including increased temperatures, reduced cloud cover, decreased rainfall, and drought over a large portion of the Tropics. The eight forests in this study occur along a steep rainfall gradient from the wet Caribbean to the dry Pacific coast of Panama. The project capitalizes on previously mapped populations of seedlings and trees in each of these forests. Although the 2015-16 El Niño initially benefitted trees by reducing cloud cover and increasing light availability during the 2015 rainy season, the dry season began earlier than normal, which likely means a severe drought lies ahead. The project will test several hypotheses about how tree species in normally wet and dry forests respond differently to reduced rainfall. The net effect of drought and increased light on the health of seedlings and adult trees will determine which species regenerate, potentially altering long-term composition of the forests. This project is important because tropical forests play a vital role in global carbon and water cycles and are the most biologically diverse ecosystem on the planet. Also, a deeper understanding of how plant species respond to El Niño events will provide insight into how forests will respond to long-term climate change.
During the 2016 El Niño event, researchers will survey an existing network of tree seedling plots within eight forests that span a pronounced rainfall gradient in central in Panama. Censuses will measure seedling recruitment, growth and survival across two size classes and (1) determine which forest sites and tree species are most affected by an extreme El Niño event, (2) examine the relative roles of reduced soil water availability and increased light on seedling performance, (3) evaluate the predictive value of functional traits for seedling responses to El Niño, (4) measure the size distribution of El Niño-related seedling mortality, and (5) provide a baseline for modeling the effects of extreme El Niño events on tropical forests through assessing minimum soil and leaf water potentials and their variation across forests and species. The project is among the most comprehensive studies of the effects of an El Niño event on tropical forest regeneration to date and will provide insight into variation of responses within and among species, seedling size classes, and forests. The research will improve projections for consequences of global climate change for these forests, as well as for vegetation-climate feedbacks, which will be important for forest management under current and future climate conditions. The project will also facilitate future research efforts both in Panama and in other tropical regions by providing research infrastructure and data from a relatively new set of plots in Panama and by gathering comparative performance data for a wide range of species. Data will be made publically available online. |
| 资源类型: | 项目
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| 标识符: | http://119.78.100.158/handle/2HF3EXSE/92721
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| Appears in Collections: | 全球变化的国际研究计划
科学计划与规划
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| Recommended Citation: | |
Frank Jones. RAPID: The effect of an extreme El Nino event on tropical forest seedling regeneration. 2016-01-01.
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