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Tropical adventure
New NSF grant allows James Raich to explore ways to rejuvenate forest
systems
- You can't consider yourself a biologist unless you have spent some time
in the tropics.
At least that's the opinion of James Raich, associate professor of ecology,
evolution and organismal biology.
So far into his career Raich has backed up his words with his actions. His
master's work was done in Costa Rica, a diverse land of lowland rainforests,
cloud forests, savannas, mountains and five active volcanoes.
Over the past few years, he has taken two Iowa State student groups on study
abroad programs in Costa Rica.
And now Raich is part of a research team that has been funded by the National
Science Foundation (NSF) to search for a way to restore forest systems to
help slow the process of global warming - work that can be best accomplished
in the diverse environmental conditions of Costa Rica.
"The biology is fully expressed in all its potential in Costa Rica,"
Raich said. "If a biologist doesn't take advantage of the environment
in lowland rain forests, it would be like a musician trying to learn music
without being exposed to the masters like Mozart and Beethoven. You can
still learn, but think what you would miss out on."
Raich and Ann Russell, affiliated assistant professor of natural resource
ecology and management, will take advantage of the favorable Costa Rican
environment to conduct a tree production-based research project in lowland
portions of the country, where trees grow quickly in the tropical humid
climate.
Raich says that 30% of Costa Rica’s land area is tropical. The forests
undergo rapid changes and are "full of species we don’t know
anything about."
"In 14 years time, trees grow two feet in diameter," he said.
"If we were to do this project in Iowa, we would have to wait 60 years
to replicate the same conditions."
In conjunction with the three-year NSF grant the pair received, NSF has
also awarded $280,000 to the Organization of Tropical Studies (OTS), a consortium
of universities and museums that Iowa State recently joined. Raich and Russell
will work at an OTS field station in the Costa Rican rain forest.
"The field station is right in the heart of the jungle and comes complete
with a computer lab, library and other facilities," Raich said.
Beginning this past summer, Raich and Russell will each spend 36 days a
year in Costa Rica in two-week increments in addition to a graduate assistant
who will be at the facility for up to eight months a year. That way, Raich
says, the research team will be able to investigate the extent to which
individual tree species differ, how they influence the carbon cycle, and
nutrients in reforested land through field and laboratory research.
That's important because the pair think that increased plant uptake of carbon
dioxide could help offset the excess carbon dioxide being produced by fossil
fuel burning and may improve conditions that would otherwise lead to global
warming. Increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere allows plants to grow
faster.
"Better management of forest plantations will also reduce pressure
on adjacent forests and provide refuge for native forest species and thus
promote conservation of biodiversity in tropical forests," Raich said.
Around LAS
September 8-21, 2003
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