Ecosystem Transitions from Andean Cloud Forest to the Lowland Amazon:a Pan-American Advanced Studies Institute on Tropical ecology, Biogeochemistry, and Climate in Peru; June, 2011

University Of Arizona, Tucson AZ

Investigators

Abstract

This Pan-American Advanced Studies Institutes (PASI) award, jointly supported by the NSF and the Department of Energy (DOE), will take place during June/ July 2011 at various sites within the Peruvian Amazon region. Organized by Drs. Scott Saleska (University of Arizona), and Steven Wofsy (Harvard University), with the collaboration of Drs. Plinio Camargo (University of Sao Paulo, Brazil), Dan Metcalfe (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden) and Norma Salinas (Universidad San Antonio Abad, Peru), the PASI will explore how differences in forest structure along an elevation transect may give insight into the future of Amazon forests under climate change. The course will begin at 3,000 m in a Peruvian Andean cloud forest and finish at a lowland Amazon forest site. The creative component of the proposed activities is the integration of classroom- and field-based instruction with group projects developed along well-defined themes. This approach has proven effective in facilitating interdisciplinary research in new areas, especially in laying the groundwork for future collaborative international research projects. The PASI aims to advance knowledge and understanding of the ecological and biogeochemical mechanisms driving forest-climate interactions in the Andes-Amazon region through an international and interdisciplinary course for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows from the U.S., U.K., Peru and Brazil. The knowledge generated from the PASI on the structure and function of tropical forests, now and in the future, stands to inform questions important to a number of disciplines, including ecology, atmospheric science, hydrology, biogeochemistry, soil science and spatial sciences, and has the potential to increase the number of researchers working in tropical environments. The PASI complements an existing NSF PIRE program in the Brazilian Amazon, which will help leverage significant financial and logistical resources. Course projects, as outlined in the proposal, will likely lead to research activities and published papers. Results of the PASI will be disseminated through a program website.